The Avenged
by StarksViolet
Summary: The story of the triumphant Avengers, in what may be their most important role yet, the protection of one of their own.
1. Chapter 1

He closed his eyes, he knew what he had done, and he knew what it meant.

'What are you doing-' Came the panicked scream from behind the door he had shut only moments ago. 'They'll kill you, what are you doing?' the voice shouted.

The voice behind the door continued to plead with him; she continued begging he listen to reason. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. He raised his arms and interlocked his fingers behind his head. Two men rushed in and secured his arms; another man hit him on the head with the butt of his gun.

SEVERAL HOURS LATER

'Come in Stark, do you copy?' A desperate voice spoke into the radio.

Silence befell the team. Hours had passed, what hope was left.

'Stark can't come to the phone right now, but if you leave a message, I'll be sure to let him know.' A sadistic laughter came through the other end.

'Who the hell is this?' Natasha was never one to take the hostage of a team member lightly.

'No one that concerns you my dear, you were merely the bait; and you did a great job.' He replied.

Natasha's gaze dropped, she threw the receiver on the table in front of her and left the room. No one spoke, for hours it seemed. They stared at the black device which had mockingly told them of the fate of their comrade.

Steve picked it up, looked at it for a moment, mouth open as if he were about to speak and changed his mind. He sighed deeply, and then took another shot, 'what do you want with Stark?'

The familiar static of the radio spiked up again, the silence was broken by a muffled cry, then laughter, not from the same person, the sadist spoke, 'that wouldn't be any fun if I told you now would it.' Another muffled cry came from the other man.

Steve flinched at the sound, 'please,' he began, 'what do you want with him?'

'Well, since you asked nicely,' the sadist laughed, 'I want his heart.'

'Oh god.' A barely audible gasp came from behind Steve. They all turned.

'Pepper.' He breathed. He walked towards her and she took a sharp step back.

'No, no' she muttered over and over, not letting anyone touch her.

Director Fury stood up at long last walked over to her, he like Tony, was confident enough in his own words to believe he could truly comfort her, the others, were afraid. And she didn't need more fear in her life, the fear she contained within in her body right now was enough for fifty lifetimes. He put his arm around her shoulder and led her out of the room.

Steve stood in the room, eyes glued to the receiver; he was leaning on the table using his hands to hold himself up. Thor and Bruce sat around the table, each one silent. Not daring to speak, what happened to the mission? How did they end up here, and how the hell did Stark manage to get himself caught.

Their thoughts interrupted. 'What the hell happened?' bellowed a voice from the door. Steve looked up about to answer. 'No, don't tell me, I probably wouldn't believe it anyway.'

Director Fury walked over to the panel of screens which lit up the entire south side of the room. He stood with his arms behind his back studying the footage.

'Where's Romanov?' he asked finally.

'She's, I don't know, she left.' Bruce answered quietly.

'Romanov, I need you here.' Fury spoke.

They all wore earpieces, almost permanently; it was one of the requisites of being part of this team.

Within minutes of his request, Natasha showed up. She stood with her head held high, ready to report, if anyone had just met her, they wouldn't have believed what she just went through, what they all went through. She was, however, a professional. Very little shook her to her core, this was one of those rare instances. The three men saw the dishevelled appearance of her façade, slowly crumbling away.

'Sir.' She answered.

'What happened down there, Romanov?' he looked at her, genuine concern written on his features.

She remained composed, 'it was a trap, sir.'

'A trap?' Fury looked at the others; they seemed unaware, had they just been involved in the same battle.

'Yes, sir, the plan was to get Stark all along, we,' she began, then looked away, finally breaking composure, 'I was the bait.' She muttered.

The men looked up at her, not believing what they were hearing. Bruce opened his mouth to speak, a hand up from Fury stopped him mid thought.

"Why were you the bait, Romanov?' he asked sternly.

'Because they knew I would be the one to rush in first, they knew Stark would rush in next to help, because we're not team players.' She finished.

'Then these people know you.' Bruce finally interjected.

Fury nodded.

She looked away from Bruce and back at Fury. 'This is my fault.'

Fury shook his head; he motioned for everyone to sit down.

'This is a shitty situation for us to be in, and we don't place blame on one another, we're a team, a team of heroes as it were, that's what we do, we run in to help where we can. Given the situation and the fact that Stark was targeted specifically, we need to target our rescue op specifically too.' He stood up and blew up the footage from the camera where Stark was last seen.

Natasha had run in through the gap in the fence which connected to a small house, rounding the corner she had successfully taken out four guards before they could even blink, she ran on to take out three more, Tony was on her heel yelling out to her, without sound, it would have been impossible to make out what he was saying, but it was as clear as day, he was yelling for her to stop, to slow down, to listen to him. It was too late, when they turned the corner they were faced with a barrage of guards, Thor, Steve and Bruce were nowhere in sight, Tony had told them to stand down, that it was a trap. Natasha was fuelled by pure adrenalin, she hadn't heard Tony, only until they came to a stop before the guards, did she finally slow down and breathe, only to realise what she'd run herself, and Tony into. Tony could have left at any time, he could have let her run in, get a bit roughed up, but Tony could have easily taken them out with Iron Man and gotten her out. Now they were here, alone, no Iron Man, no Avengers to help. She looked back at Tony, and the worry in his eyes reflected the panic in hers. The guards ran in towards the pair, Natasha broke out into a fight with three men, and Tony took on the three closest to him, they fought hard, diligently, yet hopelessly. They backed into a corner, closest to the small house, a frantic Tony spotted a door, without hesitation he pulled it open and shoved Natasha in, he slammed it shut and rammed a shovel he found nearby under the handle. He closed his eyes and put his hands behind his head, after a few moments the men stepped towards him, two took his arms and the other hit him in the head with his gun. Tony fell to the floor.

'A hero.' Fury gave a sad laugh.

Thor stood up swiftly, 'we must rescue the Iron Man, he is indeed in need of our help now.'

Bruce stood up to join him, 'he's right, why are we still here, why aren't we doing something about this?'

Natasha stood silently watching them. Bruce looked over at her, Tony was right, she was very hard to get a read on.

'Well?' Fury asked, 'go get your team mate back.'

Like excited children running for break, they stood up and began planning. Steve took it upon himself, in Tony's absence to lead the team. They listened, and planed, and discussed options.

Pepper stood and watched from a distance, silent tears running down her cheeks. A cold breeze broke her free from the trance she found herself in. She looked around, and noticed a small room a few meters away from where she was standing. It didn't take long to notice the familiarity of it, the hot rod models, the ACDC and Black Sabbath CDS scattered around a small room, the tools and the Iron Man suit. She had to grab on to the side of the door to stop herself from falling. He was out there all alone and vulnerable.

Bruce came up to Pepper and put a hand on her shoulder, 'we'll find him.' He said, more to himself than to her. They stood looking at his room for a few moments before she pulled the door closed.

'I know.' She smiled weakly. 'That's what you do.'


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you SO much, everyone that reviewed my first chapter, it is my first FanFic, and am so excited that there are people who are actually taking the time to read, and review something which I so enjoy writing! Stick around, and hopefully I don't let anyone down, if anyone has any comments, theories or ideas, please let me know! **

TONY'S FATE

Tony woke in a dark, musty room, the arc reactor cast shadows across the floor. His head ached, his wrists stung. He tried to move and realised that he was tied to the small chair. He groaned; the pain in his head, more agitating than anything.

'How's your head?'

The voice startled Tony, he shifted his gaze, his eyes having trouble focussing in the dark. The light of his arc reactor didn't do much to illuminate the man who spoke.

'I'll live.' Tony muttered.

The man laughed in the dark. Tony squinted, straining harder to make out which direction the voice was coming from.

'Well, we're going to have to do something about that, aren't we?' The man whispered, loud enough for Tony to hear.

'What do you want?' Tony muttered. He bit his lip, he was terrified. He hoped that his voice didn't give him up.

'Well you see, Tony, I just want you out of the picture.' The man answered.

Tony inhaled deeply, he knew this man was serious, he made no requests, no threats, didn't force him to build or make anything. He just wanted him dead. And he had nothing to bargain.

'Who are you?' Tony asked, not really wanting or needing to know, he just wanted time to think, think about the situation he was in. He didn't see a way out, he didn't even think there was one. He was never faced with a challenge he couldn't face, or a problem he couldn't solve. He just needed time. Maybe a push in the right direction, just like Fury had given him when he couldn't find a replacement for the palladium that was killing him. He just needed a few minutes to think.

'You know who I am.' Came the answer.

Tony froze at this, he had no idea, no one came to mind. Everyone who he had thought was ballsy enough to do this, who knew where The Avengers would be, was out of the question, they were all men who wanted his power, his inventions and creations. No one wanted him gone without asking anything in return.

'You have me mistaken.' Tony muttered, he knew it was a complete lie, he was Tony Stark, everyone knew him. He almost laughed at what he said, he was completely helpless. And he finally let it show.

The man laughed, he put a hand on Tony's shoulder and gently squeezed it.

'Ah, Tony, still the same humour I see.' He laughed.

Tony looked down at the shadows his arc reactor cast, he found comfort in the small patterns which covered the floor. He focussed on one of the shapes. It seemed to get bigger, brighter, he looked up for the source of the light, before he could pin point it the glass from the small window shattered, he felt the hand on his shoulder pull back, he was clearly surprised by this, just as he was. The sound of the helicopter outside became louder, someone had come for him? The door was busted open, and three men rushed in. The dark room was secured and Tony felt someone behind him, releasing his hands from the ropes.

'Come on, Tony, you're ok.' Steve said firmly grabbing his shoulder to comfort him. He left his side to look for the man who held Tony.

'Where is he?' Tony asked, looking around, squinting, his vision was letting him down, the knock to his head must have been worse than he thought. He stood up, dizziness took over and he began to sway, Bruce grabbed a hold of him and hauled his arm over his shoulder.

'He got out, we didn't get him. Who was he?' Bruce whispered as they hurried Tony out, they secured the building, but they could never be too sure.

'I, I don't know.' He stuttered, he felt the nausea intensifying.

'Come on.' Bruce helped him outside.

The crisp night air was a relief to Tony, almost too much, he felt his legs give way and he fell to his knees, Bruce tried to help him up, but he couldn't stop Tony from falling. He dug his fingers into the cold grass and felt his head spin. He breathed in deeply, not able to control himself, he threw up. Steve ran up to the both of them, and helped Bruce pick Tony up. They ran him to the S.H.I.E.L.D helicopter which had landed just outside of the border of the small fence he had chased Natasha through earlier.

Once inside he leaned back and closed his eyes, the helicopter lifted off the ground and immediately felt sick. Vertigo was one of his most hated sensations. He had been shot at, bombed and chased, but this feeling always made him cringe.

He felt a hand on his arm, he cracked his eyes open and looked over, Natasha. She smiled weakly at him.

'Romanov.' He smiled. 'Feeling guilty are we?' he joked.

'Just a bit.' She teased.

He closed his eyes, and massaged his temple with his thumb. Despite the laugh they just shared, he felt the air in the car go tense. Steve and Bruce sat in the front, letting silence take the team over. He felt relief wash over him, they had done what he hoped they would. But he couldn't shake the feeling of dread which seemed to flood every crevice of his mind. Who did this? Who wanted him dead? Why did his voice seem so familiar? So many questions unanswered, yet he had no strength to think about it now. He would think about it when he woke up, when he saw Pepper. He let sleep take over.


	3. Chapter 3

'How is he?'

Tony stirred; he couldn't bring himself to open his eyes just yet, the pounding his head returned in a wave of fury. He listened.

'He's ok,' another voice, 'he took a good hit to the head, but he'll be ok.'

The sound of these people, his friends fretting over him made him smirk. His thoughts were interrupted by the familiar click of heels, hurried clicks. Pepper.

'How could you let him go in there without the suit? What's the hell were you thinking?' The anger in Peppers voice chilled him to the core, the smirk disappeared immediately. 'He could have been killed.' She continued, the anger resonated around the small room, no one spoke. Even without looking at anyone he could imagine they had all bowed their head agreeing with Peppers words. 'You're supposed to look out for each other.' She yelled. The shakiness in her voice became evident. She was crying.

He opened his eyes, and tried to sit up; he looked around and saw that they had taken him to the infirmary. The quiet beeping of the heart rate monitors sped up as he unhooked himself. Pepper immediately turned towards him, relief washed over her face replacing the momentary panic.

She rushed over to him and buried her face in the nape of his neck. 'Tony.' She breathed.

'Hey, it's ok, I'm ok.' He whispered in her ear. He looked over her shoulder at Bruce and Natasha. She smiled weakly at him.

'It's not their fault, Pep, I chose to go in without the suit.' he kept his voice low.

Pepper pulled out of the embrace and looked into his eyes, 'why?'

'Because it was meant to be a surveillance only operation, there was no need for Iron Man.' He answered.

'Do you call that surveillance only?' She pointed to the large bruises which covered his wrists from where he was bound.

'Things got out of hand,' he began, not wanting to implicate Natasha or anyone else, 'I had to help.' He finished.

'Help who?' The fury in Peppers eyes became apparent as she looked over to the pair standing by the door.

'The team.' He lied. He knew that lying to her was a mistake, but laying blame on another person, for this situation was worse.

He pulled her into an embrace, he held her close, he could feel her tears wet his neck. He closed his eyes and sighed.

'They're not your responsibility.' Pepper snapped after a few moments of thought.

He pulled back and looked into her eyes. He had never seen this side of her, for as long as he's known her she's been pushing him to be more responsible, to be more of a team player. He shook his head, despite the discomfort this caused. He got up and stood with his back to her. He looked over at Bruce and Natasha and noticed they were busy tinkering with something under a microscope. The infirmary was big enough to give privacy in instances like this, yet at the same time, small enough to feel uncomfortable with the presence of these two women in the same room.

'They are my responsibility, and I am theirs.' He shot back turning to face her.

'No, Tony, it's not your responsibility to chase after some adrenaline junkie spy and risk your life.' She said, much louder this time. Natasha and Bruce turned to face them; the look on Natasha's face was unreadable.

Tony stepped back, he was shocked, what was this? Jealousy? rage? He shook his head in disbelief. 'I'm not doing this Pepper.' he turned away from her and left her standing alone.

'Don't walk away from me, Tony!' She shouted this time.

He stopped at the door. Natasha and Bruce were inches away from him. Natasha looked at him with a look of questioning in her eyes. Bruce shook his head, 'don't.' he said barely audible.

Tony ignored his friend's advice. He stepped toward Pepper, 'I don't know what you want from me.' He spat. Despite the rage that pumped through his veins he remained composed.

In a different situation this would have been humorous, roles completely reversed. Pepper yelling at Tony who was usually the one being immature and unreasonable. But this situation was anything but humorous. His anger was more than just her unnecessary fighting with him, but it was her lack of understanding what he was doing. He had a purpose which served more than designing weapons and building 'hippie' approved energy saving devices and she didn't understand or believe that it was important enough.

She looked at him, tears streaming down her eyes. This private argument took its toll on her, she wiped the tears with the back of her hand. 'I want you to stop being so selfish.' She spat back.

Tony laughed, he looked at Bruce and Natasha who had clearly been as shocked as he was at this request. 'Selfish?' he yelled, he couldn't contain his anger anymore. 'You think I'm being selfish?' he yelled back.

'Yes, you're a selfish bastard.' She screamed, she now let the tears flow freely.

Tony laughed again, he shook his head. 'I see.' He said simply. He turned on his heel and left her alone once again, he stopped inches away from Bruce and Natasha. He looked at them for a few moments, he smiled weakly and gave Bruce a small pat on his shoulder and left the infirmary.

Bruce, Natasha and Pepper stood in silence. The thickness in the air was electric, the three stood awkwardly looking around at the aftermath. The hurt in Tony's eyes gutted Bruce. He and Tony had become really close after everything that happened in New York with Loki and his army, he knew better than anyone how much of everything Tony did, he did for Pepper. He closed his eyes and sighed. Pepper didn't know the half of it. He took a hold of Natasha's arm and led her out of the infirmary, leaving Pepper alone with her thoughts and tears.


	4. Chapter 4

**Oh My Gosh! I am so excited that you wonderful people are reading and reviewing my story! I hope you are enjoying reading this fic as much as I'm enjoying writing it! Please let me know if there's anything that I can be doing better, or anything you would like to see included :)**

Pepper sat alone in the dark, the surrounding walls felt like they were closing in on her. The tears kept falling, wetting her lap. Alone with her thoughts she cried, a knock on the door broke her trance.

'Can I come in?' Bruce asked from the other side.

Pepper cleared her throat, 'come in, Bruce.' She said quietly.

Bruce stepped inside, he looked around for the light switch, 'do you mind?' he asked.

'Go ahead.' She nodded.

He flicked the switch on, and walked over to her. He took a chair from the small work desk by the window, he pulled it toward the bed where Pepper was sitting. They sat looking at each other, Bruce cleared his throat.

'What happened back there?' he asked. His usual warm demeanour was non-existent. He asked more for Tony's sake than for hers.

She studied his expression, 'nothing that concerns you, Bruce.' She said firmly.

Bruce smirked at this, looking down at his hands. 'Well, the welfare of my team does concern me, and since Tony is part of my team.' He said without looking up at her.

'Why do you care, I'm sure he'll be fine, parading his heroic skills, chasing after some 'hero' who has no regard for her own team mates.' She said coolly.

Bruce did look up at her this time, the look on his face expressed how unimpressed he was. 'Pepper,' he began, looking for the best words, 'you don't know what happened.'

'So tell me.' She hissed.

Bruce stood up and walked over to the small work table and picked up one of the tablets Tony modified. He flicked through several options until he found what he was looking for. He passed it to Pepper. He watched her face drop as she closed her eyes in shame. The tears came again. She sobbed to herself. 'Where is he?' she asked getting off the bed.

'He left a few hours ago.' He answered.

Pepper shot a look at him, 'where?' She managed, 'where did he go?'

Bruce took the tablet from her hands. 'He's gone with Natasha to do surveillance of that building.' He nodded toward the house in the video Pepper just watched. Tony had risked his life to save Natasha's, and he was going back to the same place where he nearly lost his life, to do surveillance, with her. Her mind raced, she felt hot, lightheaded. The anger returned to her.

'He's with her.' She said, more a statement than a question. Bruce nodded. 'Does he just not care, is being reckless his contribution to this team?' she hissed, 'and hers.' She finished, a sarcastic laugh escaped her lips.

Bruce stepped in front of her, he stared her down. 'Enough.' He finally said. He had never spoken to anyone like this, much less a woman.

Pepper glared at him, unable to believe what she was seeing. 'Back off, Banner.' She spat.

'You are taking everything out of context and you have no reason to act like this.' He explained.

'You have no right to get involved in mine and Tony's life.' She retorted.

'I thought I already made that clear, my team is important to me, and you're not helping the situation.' He stated.

'What situation would that be?' she stepped around him, 'A childish playboy who thinks he's turned his life around running around with an assassin turned spy?'

'He has changed. He's here, helping us.' Bruce said coldly.

'He's here helping himself, to think I thought he had _actually _changed, actually loved me.' She muttered walking away from Bruce.

Bruce stood where she left him, 'and you think him selfish.' He shook his head.

Pepper turned to look at him. 'What?' she asked coldly.

'You said he was selfish for doing what he did, he does everything to make sure you are safe, every mission,' he was walking towards her now, 'every operation, every day he does what he does to make you safe, not the world, not the team, you.' He realised he was yelling now.

Pepper stood still.

'He ran in after Natasha because she had disobeyed orders Fury had given us, strictly surveillance, she heard people in the building and she took off. She and Tony were taking that side of the permitter, we had no coms in there, an electrical field was causing interference, without hesitating he ran in to save her. He's probably the most unselfish person I know.' He explained.

Pepper took in the words she was hearing. She didn't say anything.

'He's not coming back for a few hours; I wouldn't be here when he gets back.' He muttered before leaving her alone with her thoughts.

'Bruce?' Came a voice across the central command system. The voice echoed through the walls of the building.

'Yes?' he answered, as he walked down the hall, Pepper rushed over to the door and watched him walk away. Once he turned the corner she began to follow him, making sure he didn't see her.

'Can we have you on the base level please?' asked the voice over the intercom.

'On my way.' Bruce answered.

Pepper, headed down to the base level through a back channel she remembered taking with Tony once when they were sneaking around like teenagers.

Once she reached the room where she knew Bruce would be she looked for a small panel in the wall of the adjoining the room. Tony had showed her a while ago that is she ever needed to bypass Jarvis' surveillance that this panel was what she needed to locate. She gave it a small tap and it came away from the wall. 'Jarvis.' She whispered.

'Yes, Miss Potts.' Jarvis responded.

'Can you please show me the central room?' she asked.

'Diverting the video and audio link for central room now.' he answered.

She sat against the door with the tablet in her lap, she began to watch The Avengers work.

'How's Tony?' Bruce asked.

Steve looked up from the screen he was monitoring, 'he hasn't said much, he just took off with Natasha.'

Bruce nodded, 'Thor, have you got any news for us?'

'Nothing that we can use.' He answered simply.

'So, there's a guy out there who doesn't want anything from Tony, he just wants him dead.' Bruce said coldly.

'What are our options, what do we know so far?' Steve asked, still monitoring the screen in front of him.

Bruce walked up to him, took a look then walked over and took a seat by Thor. 'He is someone that knows Tony, someone who's voice Tony recognised, and someone who has no requests, just wants him dead.'

The others nodded. Pepper watched from her corner, fear, and anger flowed through her body, why hadn't he told her? Of course he wouldn't have told her, she wouldn't tell her either.

'Tony doesn't think there are any options other than to surrender himself.' Thor said.

Steve shook his head, 'no, out of the question.'

Bruce nodded, 'we're not sacrificing anyone.'

Pepper gasped, was Tony actually considering this option?

'Has this man made any threats?' Thor asked.

Bruce sat with his head in his hands, resting on the table in front of him, 'Yeah, he warned him that if he doesn't comply, he will go after Pepper.'

'Does she know this?' Steve asked.

'No, he made it clear no one was to tell her, he said he didn't want her to worry because he would work something out.' Bruce answered.

The three sat in silence. Steve kept monitoring the screen in front of him.

'What happened with Pepper?' Steve asked.

Pepper perked up at the sound of her name.

'Nothing.' Bruce answered. 'Keep an eye on them, we don't need another situation.' He motioned to Steve. He nodded, nothing more needed to be said.

Pepper picked herself up and headed back to her room. She didn't know what to feel.


	5. Chapter 5

'There's nothing left here, Tony.' Natasha breathed, they had gone over and over the site. Tony was determined there would be something they could use to identify the man who held him.

'Check again.' He instructed.

His face looked pained, his energy had worn down after the hundredth time they examined the same thing over and over. He stood inside the room where he was held, the glass still remained scattered across the floor from the rescue op. The small chair in which he was bound lay on its side, his blood stained the ropes which lay on the ground. He scratched the back of his head. Natasha came to stand behind him, she looked at him with concern.

'Tony,' she touched his arm, 'come one, there's nothing here.' She said quietly.

'There has to be.' He muttered. He walked away from her, he checked every corner, every crevice. He knew it as much as she did, there was nothing here.

Natasha looked at his obsessive searching, there was more to this than he let on.

'You ok?' she asked quietly, she felt a little bit out of her comfort zone, she was not one for emotional interaction, especially not with Tony Stark, the man she worked for undercover, his womanising and alcoholic ways were long gone, the Tony Stark that stood before her was a broken man, a conflicted man.

He stopped what he was doing, his back to Natasha. He sighed loudly, 'No.' he replied.

Natasha bit her lip, 'is it Pepper?' she asked.

Tony smirked, 'are _we_ really having this conversation?' he asked.

The change in mood made Natasha laugh, 'Yes, Tony, we are. You _need _to talk about it, and since I'm here, you've got me.' She gave him an over the top curtsey.

Tony laughed, 'I thought you'd never offer, Romanov.' He bowed back at her.

'But seriously, you need to talk to her.' She said, she looked uncomfortable.

'You don't have to do this, Romanov.' He said, noticing the uncomfortable face she pulled. 'I'll be ok.'

'I'm doing this because I want to, not because it's part of the job description, believe me Tony, if the job description said "_Must be emotional confidant to Tony Stark" _I wouldn't have said yes in the first place.'

Tony laughed, and looked away, Natasha took a hold of his arm, he turned to face her, she stepped closer to him. Her face was inches away from his, he breathed in deeply, her eyes bored into his. He could feel her breath. They stood inches away from each other, for hours it seemed, she finally smiled at him and broke her gaze, she stepped away from him and headed back into the house leaving Tony breathless, and dumbfounded.

'Tony!' she yelled.

His thoughts were interrupted, without hesitation he ran in to find Natasha.

'I think I found something.' She said excitedly, she looked at him, holding up a small hard drive.

Tony grinned, 'I knew there was something here.'

She laughed, 'let's get this back to the others, see what we have.' She playfully punched him in the shoulder as they walked back to the car.

They drove back towards the Avengers headquarters, Tony looked at Natasha.

'What?' she asked, smiling.

'Nothing,' he said quickly looking away. 'Thank you.' He said quietly. She smiled, as they drove back in silence.

**Sorry that this was a short chapter! Will make up for it later, I promise! As always, let me know what you think, and any ideas about where you think this can go, or what you may want to see with the characters. I have a secret desire to see Tony and Natasha share something special, but I don't know if thats allowed :( let me know what you think!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ok! So first off, as usual, thank you to all those wonderful people who read and reviewed, and secondly did anyone order some extra cheesy Pepperony?**

'We'll work this out, Tony.' Natasha interrupted Tony's thoughts; he looked at her and nodded.

'It shouldn't be this hard. I recognised his voice, why can't I work out who it is?' he said aloud, he questioned himself.

'You we're beaten up, tortured and threatened, I think you did well.' She said coolly.

'You know, Romanov, you're indispensable.' He laughed.

She nodded, 'that's what I'm here for, Sir.' She said sarcastically.

Tony looked at the hard drive in his hands, he turned it over from one side to the next, examining each mark, each scratch on it. 'I don't know if we'll be able to pull anything readable off this.' He said.

Natasha glanced over at the item in Tony's hands, 'we'll have someone take a look at it, we have some pretty smart people down there.'

'Yeah, let's hope so. It's in pretty bad condition.' He said.

'Don't worry, Tony, if there's something on it, we'll find it.' She assured him.

The rest of the drive was quiet, night had fallen, Tony took in the views of the street lights, warm looking homes and people walking down the street, things he never paid any attention to, now seemed to be all her could think about.

As they pulled into the headquarters Tony handed the hard drive back to Natasha, she took it and nodded.

'I'm going to find Pepper, tell me if you find anything.' He said as they went their separate ways.

'Tony?' Natasha called to him.

'Yes?' He asked looking back at her.

'You love her, that's all that matters.' She said walking away.

Tony smiled to himself, 'sneaky woman, Romanov.'

He knew that Natasha was one of the most powerful people in this building, mentally. She could get anything out of anyone. His feelings for Pepper had never changed, he realised that as soon as Natasha's eyes bored into his, he laughed. 'Always the agent.' He said to himself.

Tony stopped in front of his makeshift workshop. He looked down the hall at his and Peppers room, he needed a few minutes to compose himself, he would tinker away for a few mins, and then he would find Pepper. He stepped inside, on the far left corner, by s small desk, Pepper lay asleep on the leather couch. Her hair fanned out around her face. He smiled to himself. He walked over and sat by her side; he cupped her cheek and kissed her forehead.

'Tony?' she whispered, not opening her eyes.

'I'm here.' He whispered into her ear.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close. 'I'm so sorry.'

He could feel her heavy breathing, she was crying, he gently pulled away from her so he could look into her eyes. He kissed her forehead again

'You don't have anything to be sorry for.' He smiled.

She sat up, she pulled him closer. 'Yes I do, Tony, I'm so sorry.'

He pulled back again, 'no, you don't. Believe me, Pep, you've been ridiculously supportive of everything, in my whole life.' He stood up, he needed to think, to get his words right. 'You,' he began then changed his mind, 'it, it can't be easy, looking after me, the stress, the not knowing if I'm coming home to you,' he rubbed his temple, 'I don't blame you for thinking what you do. You've been so strong for so long-'

'Tony.' She interjected, she walked up to him, she took hold of his hands.

'I really need to say this,' he explained, he looked into her eyes. 'I love you, so much Pepper, so much that every decision in my mind comes back to you.' He leaned into her, his forehead resting on hers. 'Everything I do, I do to make sure you're safe, I_ am_ selfish, I think about what I'm doing for you, but I never really thought about all that you do for me, you stay so strong, you hold everything together.' He spoke, sure of his words after worrying what he would say, and how he would say it.

She pulled him into an embrace, 'it still doesn't excuse how I behaved, the things you risk and go through every day can't compare to how I feel, I want you to know that I _am _proud of you, and I'm so proud of the man you've become.'

He kissed the nape of her neck, 'thank you, Pepper, that means a lot to me.' He breathed.

'I just want you to know why I reacted the way I did.' She began, he pulled away to look at her. 'You were gone, held hostage, you could have been killed, and I was hurt, that you were willing to die for her, but not live for me.' She stated.

Tony shook his head, he looked deep into her eyes, 'Natasha is my friend, she is part of the team that makes this world a safer place for you, Pep, I would never leave you,' he explained, 'and besides, they need me too much, they'll always find a way to get me out of trouble.' He grinned, his infectious smile lightened Peppers mood immediately.

Pepper sighed, but laughed at his words, 'Oh, Tony.' She smiled.

He led her to the couch, and sat beside her. Her small hand in his, fingers interlocked. She looked down at the rope burns around his wrists; she gently traced the lines with her fingers. She tightened her grip on his hand. 'I know he wants you dead.' She whispered.

Tony didn't try to lie, 'Yeah.' He answered.

'What are you going to do?' she asked cautiously.

'I don't know, Pep.' Tony sighed.

'You'll solve this.' She said, she didn't know whether it was a statement, or a prayer.

They sat quietly for a long time, he finally broke the silence. 'I'm scared, Pepper.' He turned to face her, his eyes full of vulnerability and honesty.

The look in his eyes broke Peppers heart, she pulled him closer. 'I'm not.' She whispered, barely loud enough to hear, 'you're brilliant, and you will solve this.' She ran her fingers through his hair. He was brilliant, and he would solve this, but the truth was, Tony's fear terrified her, Tony Stark was never afraid, at least not afraid enough to admit it aloud, especially not to someone else.

He looked into her eyes and smiled, he couldn't mask the sadness from her. She pulled him down to lie beside her; they faced each other, looking for answers in each other's eyes. Tony planted a kiss on her lips then closed his eyes, a million thoughts ran through Peppers head, fear, uncertainty, what tomorrow would hold, she finally leaned her head against his chest, the slow rise and fall of his breathing, along with the quiet hum of the arc reactor eventually took her thoughts away, and she drifted off to sleep.

**Let me know what you all thought, it's getting more and more exciting to write this as it goes on :) I'm already working on the next few chapters, so the pace is working in my favour at the moment, just keep passing on the feedback! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Ok everyone, this is finally going somewhere promising! I'm so excited! As always, let me know what you think!**

The team which worked on recovering the hard drive found several small video files, some were of an unknown location testing some unknown weapons, some were recordings of the house where Tony was held, images of Tony being beaten and tortured caused Thor and Bruce to look away, Steve stepped closer to the screen.

'Freeze it, Jarvis.' He shook his head. 'You've got to be kidding.' He stood staring at the frozen image on the screen in front of him. , the image of his captor was blurry; however it didn't take much clarifying for Steve to recognise the face looking back at him.

Bruce, Thor and Natasha looked at each other. Natasha stepped forward, 'What is it?' she asked.

'This man,' Steve pointed to the screen, 'I know this guy.' He said, anger creeping into his voice.

'Who is it?' Bruce asked stepping up to them.

'I have to tell Tony.' Steve interrupted and left them before anyone else could speak.

Tony sat up, a cold sweat drenched his body, his shirt clung to his back, Pepper sat up too. The sound of Tony's gasp and shallow breathing brought her back to the waking world with a shock.

'Tony, are you ok?' she breathed, she took a hold of his arm, his fists were clenched, 'Tony?' She shook him.

He turned to look at her, his eyes wide with terror. 'I know who he is.' He managed.

Pepper looked scared too, the look on Tony's face told her he was afraid of the realisation. A knock on the door made Tony jump, he got off the couch and pulled the door open. Steve stood in front of him. The look on his face matched Tony's.

'I know who he is, Tony.' Steve said firmly.

Tony motioned for Steve to follow him. 'So do I.' Tony muttered. Steve and Pepper rushed down the hall on Tony's heel, they followed him down a series of staircases and corridors, this was his building, he knew it better than anyone, but Pepper questioned if he knew where he was going. He finally came to a stop, a small room under the main base level. He stood in front of it, was he willing it to open on its own?

'Tony?' Pepper asked quietly, touching his arm gently.

He cleared his throat and opened the door. They followed him inside.

Steve looked at Pepper and opened his mouth to question Tony, she put a hand on his arm, she shook her head. 'Wait.' She whispered to him.

Tony rummaged around a few carts, throwing unimportant things over his shoulder, until he finally came to a small box he was looking for. He dropped to his knees, a small black and white photo in his hand, he looked at it in silence before holding it over his shoulder, Steve walked over to him and took it. Pepper stepped closer to Steve to look at the photo.

'I don't understand.' She said quietly, 'Tony?' she asked.

It was a photo of his Parents at a charity event, and a young Tony Stark beaming his award winning smile, he was standing beside a man a little younger than Howard, he had his arm around Tony's shoulder. Pepper had seen photos like this one on numerous occasions, she didn't see what was so important about this picture, or what it had to do with Tony's captor.

Steve looked at the photo intently, his fist clenched, he picked up the small box which lay on the floor beside Tony, its contents scattered across the floor. Steve showed Pepper a newspaper clipping with small black and white photo underneath it. She read the clipping quietly to herself.

"_Reports of the suspicious circumstances surrounding Howard Starks death have been revisited after a man has been arrested and held for questioning, it is said that the rival company for which the man works for had requested a joint arrangement with Stark Industries, and was denied on the basis that the products they were designing were of poor nature and would portray Stark in poor character. The investigation so far has revealed that the man held for questioning had made death threats against the entire Stark family. Reports are inconclusive."_

Pepper felt tears escaper her eyes; she wiped them away with her free hand and looked at the photo underneath the clipping. A man in handcuffs looked back at her, a menacing grin spread across his face, she immediately recognised the man from the family photo Steve had handed to her earlier.

'Oh my God.' She breathed, she kneeled beside tony and took his hands into hers.

'Tony,' Steve squeezed his shoulder, 'we have to tell the others, we need to start working on our plan of attack.'

Tony nodded, and slowly stood up. They walked back to meet the others, the silence between them was heavy, thoughts weaved in and out of Tony's mind like a snake weaving through grasslands.

Peppers mind was full of worry, Steve shared the feeling. If this man had done what the newspaper said, there was nothing Tony or The Avengers could do. Her heart felt constricted, and her breaths barely came, she fought against the waves of tears which threatened her. Tony was brilliant, he would solve this. He had to.

**Sorry for the shortish chapter,more to come soon! **


	8. Chapter 8

**As always, it's a fantastic feeling seeing all of your wonderful reviews! Hope you enjoy this little chaper here :)**

Bruce and Thor were deep into discussion about Steve's unexplained realisation; Natasha sat quietly reviewing the footage for herself.

Tony walked through the door first, followed by Steve and then Pepper, much to everyone's relief.

'Is someone going to explain what is going on?' Natasha asked, looking at Steve.

'The man who held me captive, is this guy.' Tony answered before Steve could. 'His name is William Bessler. He threw the newspaper clipping and photos on the table. Bruce reached for them, and his hand was swatted away by Natasha's. A small grunt escaped Bruce's mouth.

He moved his seat closer to Natasha's so they could look together. 'Who is he?' they asked, almost in unison.

'He was an engineer for a company which rivalled my fathers.' Tony explained.

Steve nodded and took the photo from Natasha's hand, 'he was a friend of Howards, I met him a few times, before, well, before I went down, they studied together, he was a pain in the ass-,' they all looked at him with bewilderment, except for Tony, 'to me anyway.' He finished.

'He was around my family since I was a kid, I remember charity galas, and fundraisers, everywhere my dad went , he was sure to be there, taking an interest in his work, his ideas.' Tony continued.

Pepper stood by the door, observing Tony. He spoke confidently and calmly, if he was holding up a façade, he was doing a great job. She was fooled, that was for sure.

'When I was twenty, he came to me, he said that my father was becoming out-dated and I should jump ship before the business sunk. He offered me a position on his engineering staff.' Tony said taking a seat. 'I refused, and three weeks later my dad was killed.'

Pepper noticed how he said Howard was _killed; _he suspected it was foul play since the accident happened. No one, not even Rhodey could persuade him otherwise.

'Incoming call, Sir.' Jarvis announced over the intercom.

'Patch it through.' Tony answered.

'Hey, what have you got for me?' Rhodey asked.

Col. James Rhodes was Tony's closest and most trusted friend, lucky for Tony; he was also in the military, an ally if ever there was one.

'Nothing that your guys can help with, unfortunately.' Tony answered glumly.

'Is there anything that _I _can help with then?' he asked.

'Not this time, bud.' Tony answered, 'I'll keep you posted.'

Jarvis ended the call. He was programmed well enough to know when to take action, even before Tony knew.

'What are you planning to do?' Thor asked. He looked suspiciously at Tony.

Tony stood up. He ran his fingers through his hair, 'whatever I have to.' He turned to Pepper. 'To make you safe.' He said directly to her.

She walked over to him and took him into her arms. He dug his face into the nape of her neck. He sighed a heavy breath. She held on to him, feeling his shallow breaths.

After a few moments pulled back, 'come with me.' He said to Pepper, taking a hold of her hand.

'We need a minute.' He said to the team, they nodded as he led Pepper out of the room.

As they walked down the corridor in a hurried pace he pulled out his phone, 'Rhodey? I changed my mind; there is something you can do.' He spoke, smiling at Pepper. 'Come to the tower.' He said, hanging up.

Tony led Pepper to his workshop, he left her standing alone while he frantically gathered items and threw them into a small metallic case.

'Tony?' she walked over and took a hold of his arm, he didn't stop, 'Tony, what is going on?' she asked sternly, hardly masking her shaky voice.

He threw a few more items in the case and handed them to Pepper.

She looked at the case, not understanding. 'Tony?' she breathed, tears pooled in her eyes, fear took over.

'Please, _take_ it, we don't have a lot of time.' He took her hand and placed the case in her grip.

She looked down at the contents, an earpiece, the tablet she used earlier in the night and some lockchips. 'What is this Tony? I don't understand' she muttered.

He put his arm around her shoulder and rushed her out of the room, they walked toward the back exit of the building, after a few minutes of silently rushing through the corridors, they came to a stop by a door leading to the underground garage. Pepper noticed it was empty.

'Pepper,' he cupped her cheek with his hand. 'Do you trust me?' he whispered.

'Of course I do, Tony, what's going on?' She asked desperately.

'I need you to go with Rhodey.' He looked through the window, and noticed Rhodey had arrived, he stood by his car, waiting.

'What? No, Tony, I'm not leaving you, I'm not going anywhere.' She began ranting, her emotions taking over, she hadn't even noticed that she was crying until Tony wiped her tears away.

He leaned his forehead to hers, 'Please Pepper, I need you to do this for me.' He pleaded.

'You'll be ok, won't you? Promise me.' She demanded.

'I'll be ok, Pep, come on.' He lead her out to meet Rhodey.

Rhodey stood up, and opened the passenger door for Pepper. He shook Tony's hand. Tony walked Pepper to the car, she got in and looked up at him, the small case on her lap, Tony put his hands on the roof of the car and leaned in to look at her. He took her features in, her beautiful face, her strawberry blonde hair. He gently brushed a stray lock from her face. Pepper closed her eyes and leaned into his hand.

'Tony,' she breathed.

He leaned in and kissed her ; he let their lips linger for a moment. 'I love you Pepper.' He said as he closed the door.

'Tony?' Rhodey called.

'Take her away from here, far away, anywhere.' Tony whispered to his friend.

'Tony, you don't have to do this.' Rhodey said, trying to keep his face as placid as possible, he could feel Peppers eyes on them.

'You know that I do.' Tony replied.

He held his hand out, Rhodey took it and held it, a hand shake seemed a petty way to say goodbye to a friend, a best friend. Rhodey pulled Tony into him, and hugged him.

'Be careful man.' He said quietly.

'You know me.' Tony feigned a laugh as he walked away, away from his best friend, away from Pepper.

He wouldn't let anyone see it, but the tears fell freely from his eyes, he didn't look back.

**Let me know what you thought! This was probably the scariest chapter I've written, it's taken me the longest time, and I'm terrified that I didn't do the story so far any justice. I don't know the ins and outs of the history of Howard Stark and Captain America, but I think I did ok, I guess this being a fanfic I can hide behind the fact that I can make some of the back story up! LoL. Hopefully I didnt insult any die hard fans out there, if I did, please let me know, you know by now that I love constructive criticism, and as always thank you for your help and wise words, especially LouBlue :) **

**Please review if you get a chance, and I shall be back with you wonderful people shortly! **


	9. Chapter 9

**I firstly need to apologise to those of you who have read the most recent Chapter 9, 10 and 11, as you may notice they are gone and replaced by the one's I am uploading now. There was some kind of error in my files and they uploaded the wrong thing! This is the right one, so please enjoy and review if you can lol!**

Tony leaned against the cold door which stood between him and Pepper. This was the hardest decision he's ever had to make, but he knew it was the right one.

He gave himself a few minutes to get composed, and then headed back to his team.

'We need a plan.' Bruce said firmly.

'You think we don't know that, what options do we have?' Natasha said flatly, 'Live and lose Tony, or die and probably lose Tony anyway.' She said.

Tony stood at the door watching them argue, 'no one has to die.' He finally interjected.

They stopped to look at him, no one really knowing what to say.

'I've got a plan, and if I'm right, everything will work out favourably.' He explained.

'Well, good. What is it?' Steve asked.

Tony took a seat by Thor.

'We're going to go in and take him out.' Tony said simply.

They all looked at him with quizzical looks.

'If it was that easy, wouldn't we have done that by now?' Natasha asked.

Tony laughed, the rest of the team looked at each other. Bruce, for one, looked incredibly uncomfortable.

'There's nothing easy about it, and we couldn't do it before because we didn't have this.' He placed a one of his tablets in the middle of the table. They leaned in to look.

'These are the schematics for the building directly adjacent to this one.' Tony explained.

Thor's eyes widened, 'he's been here the whole time?'

Tony nodded, 'I would assume so. He sent this to me a few days ago.' He handed a small envelope to Steve. He opened it and glanced at the note. Natasha read over his shoulder.

_Three days to make your choice Mr Stark_

_-W.B_

'What choice, Tony?' Natasha asked eyeing him.

'That's not important.' He replied, 'what is important is that we now know that's he's here.' He tapped the screen.

'How are we doing this?' Bruce asked.

Tony stood up, his face beaming with a dazzling smile, 'that's where you come in Romanov.'

She nodded, the agent in her always coming first. 'What do you need me to do?'

'Can you bring in the Hawk?' Tony asked, dropping his gaze from hers to focus on a map he was bringing up on his tablet.

'Done, where do you want us?' she asked.

'Bring him in, we'll debrief when he gets here.' Tony said smiling.

Tony Stark's infectious good mood lightened the hearts of his team. Natasha took off to make her call to Clint, and the rest of them chatted light heartedly amongst themselves. Tony stood at a distance watching them, he had a plan. He had inadvertently become the leader of this team, the team which was working around the clock to save his life. He shook his head; his subconscious was alive, thoughts crept into his mind.

_Big man in a suit, take that away, what are you? _His response to this question was witty, humorous and full of lies. He took to heart what he had said, because it was the truth.

Was he worthy of leading this team? He didn't know, but he knew that they had let him, they expected him to lead them, and he would. If only because his own arse was on the line. But he knew that wasn't true either. He did it because he cared about these people, his friends? He did it because Pepper would expect him to, and she'd be proud.

He sighed heavily, catching the attention of his team.

'You ok?' Bruce asked, looking at him sideways.

'Sure, where's Romanov?' Tony asked energetically. He tried to mask his anxiety as much as possible. He did it his whole life, now was no exception.

'Right here.' She said walking into the room.

'He'll be here in ten.' She advised.

'Perfect.' Tony replied. He gently play punched Natasha in the shoulder and took a seat by Thor. 'Is anyone else hungry? I think we should get Shawarma, I can't be the only one wanting to eat.' He stood up again throwing his hands in the air dramatically at the lack of enthusiasm from his team.

'Still hung up on the Shawarma, I see?'

Tony turned to see Clint standing there, a wide grin on his face.

Tony laughed and shook his hand enthusiastically. 'Good to see you.' He said.

Cling laughed. 'I thought you'd never invite me to this party.'

'Romanov said you were a mood killer.' He spoke quietly, looking sideways at Natasha.

She shook her head. 'If anyone's a mood killer, it's you, Tony.' She walked over to him, 'Mr "I'm all tough and I get kidnapped for the attention".' She mocked.

Tony grunted, 'I'm offended Romanov, that was mean.' He feigned sadness.

'Still the same team, I see.' Clint laughed.

Bruce, Thor and Steve looked at each other. The look of confusion made Tony laugh. He found Clint and Natasha to be the only two people which seemed to look at life the same way he did. Bad things happened, and you just dealt with it and moved on. The others? Well they revelled in the misery, the fear and uncertainty; they thrived on these emotions to drive them. Tony understood that everyone focussed in a different way, and their way just didn't suit him.

'So what's the plan?' Clint spoke, holding his hand up to Tony, who he could see was about to interrupt, 'after the Shawarma that is.' He added.

Tony and Natasha laughed.

They had Tony's new favourite food delivered and they ate, for a few hours they laughed and talked, not mentioning the mission which lay around the corner, nor did Tony let his mind wander, he enjoyed his Shawarma and his friends. He enjoyed feeling completely at ease with the world and his life. He knew that when this was over, a change would come.


	10. Chapter 10

Tony stood at the front of the room, like he did many times in his life, usually giving a speech on his company or a lecture to a group of college students. This time, The Avengers sat before him, awaiting his instructions.

'This is how it's going to work.' Tony began, he pulled up several three dimensional images in front of him. His building, and the two buildings adjacent. 'Jarvis, show the schematics, lose the concrete.' He instructed.

With that, the images came to life, Tony constantly improved the interfaces he used, this one proved to be the most advanced yet, everything was viewable to scale, it made the planning process easier.

The team stood around, observing the entries and exits which Tony pointed out.

'Ok, Clint, I need your eyes up here,' Tony pointed to a secluded spot on top of the third building, 'I need you to monitor these three floors, here, here and here.' He explained pointing to the eighth ninth and tenth floors. Clint nodded.

'Natasha, Thor, I want you two to take surveillance of these two entry and exit points, Jarvis will be with you so it will make it easier to monitor.' He pointed to the entry ramps which led to the underground car parks in both buildings.

'Bruce, this guy was somewhat of a mad scientist. He messed around with some crazy things, _one_ of the reasons no one took him seriously at Stark.' Bruce nodded, 'I'm going to need you to monitor any and all chemical or electrical changes down there, as always Jarvis will help you.' Tony paused, 'can I rely on the Hulk to help if it comes to it?' he asked.

'Whatever it takes.' Bruce grinned.

'Excellent,' Tony smiled. He turned to Steve. 'I need you with me, Cap.' He said finally. 'We're going to take the front.' Steve nodded.

Tony breathed a sigh of relief; his plan was in motion, everyone was eager to finish this.

'Let's do this.' Tony breathed.

The team took their leave, each one headed off to get ready. Tony stayed behind looking at the floating images of the buildings before him. He pulled his phone out and looked at the screen, after a few moments he made a call.

'I've made my choice.' He said flatly. 'See you soon.' He smirked and hung up.

He looked at his red and gold suit in the glass cabinet which displayed it, Tony put the phone back in his pocket, 'Jarvis, get the suit ready.'

'Yes, Sir.' The A.I replied.

Pepper and Rhodey came to a stop at Tony's house, he took her far away, just as Tony had instructed. The Malibu house was safe. Jarvis reinforced it better than any government safe house.

'He's going to be alright.' Rhodey broke the silence.

'I know.' Pepper spoke finally.

They got out of the car and walked toward the front gate. 'I haven't been here in so long.' She whispered.

'Yeah.' Rhodey agreed. He didn't remember stepping foot in this house since he and Tony destroyed it on his birthday.

Rhodey stepped up to the security screener, 'Jarvis, open up.' He spoke.

Within seconds, the gate opened. 'Nice to see you here again Col. Rhodes, Miss Pot-.' Jarvis' greeting was cut off. Rhodey immediately drew his weapon, he shoved Pepper behind him. Before he could back into the house a group of men ran out and attacked them. One of the men pushed Rhodey into a fence and he dropped to the ground, Pepper screamed, he looked up at her, motionless. A man grabbed Pepper from behind and carried her off screaming.

A FEW HOURS LATER

Pepper looked around her; she through of something to say, anything to break the silence. The man before her grinned from across the room, he sat with his legs crossed sipping from a lavish crystal glass. She had been in here for hours, and he had said nothing. The ropes which bound her hands to the chair in which she was seated panicked her. Was this how he held Tony, while he beat him, tortured him? Endless thoughts attacked her mind; she didn't know how much longer she could sit here in silence.

She cleared her throat, she grew increasingly uncomfortable, the way he was looking at her made her fear for more than her life.

He finally stood up and walked toward her. 'I can see why Tony made such a foolish mistake.' He moved a strand of hair away from her eyes.

She flinched under his touch. This made him laugh. He walked around her and put a hand on her shoulder. Pepper shuddered, she could feel her eyes well up with tears, she blinked them away and fought the urge to break down and cry. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

'You know, Pepper.' He began, making his way to face her, he kneeled down, his face inches from hers, he breathed her scent in. 'Tony is a very lucky man.' She almost laughed, Obadiah said the same thing to her right before he tried to kill Tony.

Pepper tried to look away from him, but she could still feel his eyes on her. 'What do you want?' she whispered.

He finally stood up and Pepper sighed, a breath of relief escaped her mouth.

'I want Tony's heart.' He said simply.

Peppers eyes shot up, she glared at him this time. This time she was not afraid to look at him, the mention of Tony gave her a strength she didn't know she had, 'you'll never get it.' She hissed.

The man grinned at her, the same grin he bore in the article.

'Pepper, my dear, I already have it.' He laughed. 'Why do you think you're here?'

Tony stood in front of the suit waiting for the sequence to start.

'Sir, incoming call, from a private number.' Jarvis announced across the intercom.

'Patch it through, Jarvis.' Tony said finally.

Steve and Bruce had just walked back in to meet Tony.

'Mr Stark, Col. Richards here.' The voice sounded frantic.

'What can I do for you, Col. Richards?' Tony asked taking immediate interest in the call, still tinkering with some gadgets on the suit.

'Sir, there's been an accident at your Malibu home.' Came the reply.

Tony's heart dropped. 'What happened?' he asked, he looked over at Bruce and Steve.

'Col. Rhodes was injured.' He answered.

'And Pepper?' Tony asked hopefully.

'No one else was here, Sir.'

Tony's hands began to shake; he felt a hand on his shoulder. Panic spread through his body, he could hear his heart pounding in his ears.

He cleared his throat, 'what's his condition?' he asked, he realised his voice was cracking.

'Critical, it appears to have been caused by some kind of an electrical current.' Richards replied.

Tony looked at Bruce, without hesitation he took off toward his suit.

'Sir? Mr Stark?' Richards called.

'End call.' Tony muttered. With that, Col. Richards' voice was silenced.

'Tony, we're not ready.' Bruce pleaded. They still hadn't confirmed the final plans for the mission.

'I'm doing this now, are you in?' he spat, anger had risen in his body. He felt his face burn, his emotions raced.

'We're in.' Steve agreed.

Tony nodded. 'Then let's go.'

Steve and Bruce watched Tony as Jarvis suited him up, Pepper was gone, and Rhodey was in critical condition, because of him. He should have anticipated an attempt on Pepper, he threatened her, why hadn't he thought of this. He slammed his iron fist into the wall. He cursed himself.

He shook his head, 'let's go.' He muttered.

They walked to the front of the building, Natasha and Clint in their S.H.I.E.L.D uniforms stood by awaiting instructions.

Iron Man's face plate opened, 'everyone knows what to do, let's do it.' He said as his face plate closed. 'Good luck team.'

**Hope you enjoyed :) Let me know what you thought if you get a chance!**


	11. Chapter 11

Peppers mind wandered back to Rhodey, she remembered that he tried to fight the men off, she remembered that he stood in front of her. She remembered that he fell to the ground. His eyes looked straight at hers, panic stricken, he lay motionless, she remembered arms around her waist carrying her away, screaming.

Her mind was brought back to the present by a splash of water on her face, she hadn't even realised that she'd fallen asleep.

'Wake up, Miss Potts, wouldn't want you to miss the show.' He laughed.

The water dripped down her face, creeping its way down her chest saturating her shirt.

'You'll fail, whatever you're planning, you won't succeed.' She breathed, shivers ran over her body.

'Well,' he began, 'maybe, maybe not.' He said coolly.

He dragged the chair closer to her. He crossed his legs and looked at her meaningfully.

'Whatever you do to me, Tony will not, under any circumstances give himself up.' She said, barely audible.

He smirked, 'You know as well as I do, that's not true.' He compassionately pat her knee. 'We both know, he will come in here, guns blazing, he'll do anything for you.'

Pepper knew this was true, she knew that there was no way Tony wouldn't give himself up for her. She bit her bottom lip, 'he won't'. She tried to lie, as much to herself as to him.

'We'll see.' He said, he got up and left her to her thoughts.

'Don't do anything stupid, Tony.' She whispered.

She sat in silence, looking around at the room she was in, it was as big as her office in the Stark Industries tower, the décor was tasteful, a large Monet hung in the middle of the room, a mahogany desk sat in front of the large window. It was set out the same way she had hers set out, her heart sunk. If it was the same inside, then it would be the same outside. Reinforced, tinted windows, Tony wouldn't see her in here despite being in plain sight.

A loud crash outside startled her; it was powerful enough to make the window vibrate. Then she heard it, the familiar sound of Iron Man's thrusters.

Iron Man landed a few meters away from the entrance of the building. He looked around and noticed that his team had already moved into position. He walked towards Steve and retracted his face plate.

'Where do you want me?' Steve asked.

Tony looked around, 'I need you to watch the entry, it's the only place I won't be able to see from up there.' He pointed to the entry of the Stark Tower and the opposing building. 'He's in there, he'll be occupying those three floors, I'll need to be in the air.'

Steve nodded, 'You got it.'

Iron Man flew off, he circled the building looking for any tell-tale signs as to which floor he would be on, and most importantly where Pepper was.

'Jarvis, Infrared please.' Tony asked, instantly a live scan on the building before him appeared in his HUD.

He looked around, scanning every floor, he came to a stop when he noticed several heat signatures occupying a small area on the ninth floor.

'Got you.' He smirked.

'Hawkeye, do you read me?' He asked Clint.

'Reading you Tony.' Clint replied

'I see them on the ninth floor,' he explained flying around once more, 'if I weaken the glass for you, will you have a clear shot?'

'Look who you're asking.' Clint joked, 'of course I'll have a clear shot.'

Tony laughed. 'I wouldn't expect any less.' He said coolly.

'Cap?' Tony said looking around, then finally flying up. 'Change of plans, see that building to your right? I need you to make your way to the roof; I'll see you up there.'

Tony stood on the roof of the unfamiliar building, looking out over the New York skyline, the Stark Tower shone magnificently in the night against the starry backdrop. He admired his work, purely clean energy, he _had _done a good job with his life after Afghanistan, and he was proud, probably for the first time in a long time.

'Tony, what's going on?' The Captain asked as he walked up to where Tony was standing; he stood by the railing which circled the perimeter.

'This isn't going to work.' Tony said quietly not turning to face him.

The Captain took his mask off, 'what isn't going to work, the plan?'

'There's no way I can get in there and get Pepper out safely, he's going to kill her.' Tony explained.

Steve sighed; he scratched his head, 'Tony, we have to try'.

Tony turned to face him 'Of course we're going to try, just not the way I planned,' his voice trailed off.

'What do you want to do?' Steve asked.

'He's holding her on the ninth floor. I've asked the Hawk to take care of the guards. That will distract him enough for me to get in there, I need you and Thor to get Pepper out, get her safe. Call Fury, get a chopper out here, get to a safe distance, I'll take care of the rest.'

Steve stood with his hand resting on the railing. He shook his head, 'that's a suicide mission, Tony and you know it.'

'What other choice do I have, Cap?' Tony retorted.

The two men stood silently looking at each other. Steve opened his mouth to offer up a solution then closed it, he had nothing.

Tony Smiled weakly. 'Don't worry about it, I'm pretty resilient, maybe he'll fall victim to my charm and let me go.'

Steve shook his head, and laughed at him, even in this, Tony's darkest moment he was cracking jokes. 'Or maybe you'll talk him to death and he'll let you go.'

Tony laughed, he clapped Steve on the shoulder, 'don't tell the others, just go on as planned.'

'Ok, Tony.' Steve agreed. He looked at Tony as he flew off and he headed back down to meet Bruce and Thor. He pressed his ear piece and called Fury, 'Sir, we're going to need a helicopter down here as soon as you can, and bring a medic.'

Pepper struggled to get her shoulders comfortable, the awkward position in which she was tied down was straining her arms, she let out a frustrated cry. After a few moments she realised that the earpiece Tony had given her was still in her pocket, she could feel it against her leg. She needed to get to it. Should she ask for the bathroom, she decided against that, _she_ wouldn't fall for that, she'd seen way too many movies.

'Hey.' She yelled across the room. 'I need to talk to you.' She yelled again.

After a few moments the door opened, William, her captor stepped in, 'I thought you'd never speak to me again.' He chuckled.

She smirked at him sarcastically.

'How can I help you, my dear?' he asked walking over to her.

'I know I'm going to be here for a while, could you at least tie my arms in a different position?' she asked as politely as she could.

He looked at her suspiciously. After a few moments he nodded, 'sure, why not.' He said smiling at her.

Pepper sighed as he removed the ropes. She sat still in the chair rubbing her wrists, she heard her shoulder crack.

William walked around to stand in front of her, 'be a good girl now.' He said.

Pepper looked at him dumbfounded. Was he just going to leave her here? This wasn't a good sign, it meant he had nothing to worry about, he knew his plan was solid, she nodded at him and he left her alone. She knew the door would be guarded and they were at least eight or nine floors up. Of course he had nothing to worry about, where would she go. Still, she enjoyed the minimal freedom he granted her. She rushed over to the corner of the room and pulled out the ear piece. She put it in and pushed the button, she didn't know who it would call, nor if it was connected at all, but since Tony had given it to her, she placed a little faith in it.

She heard the line connect, but she couldn't hear anyone on the other end. She prayed that it was Tony and that he could hear her. 'Tony.' she breathed. 'Tony I don't know where I am.' She explained, she tried to calm herself, she knew that she needed to stay focussed. 'I'm scared for you, I'm ok.' She knew that she needed to make him aware of everything; he needed to know the entire equation. 'The door is guarded, I'm alone in here, the building has the same schematics as the Stark Tower, so I think the glass is reinforced.' She walked around making mental notes of everything that could help. 'Tony, he's not going to hurt me, he wants you.' She said quietly, 'don't let him win.' She added. 'I don't even know if you're there, or if you can hear me, but I wanted to tell you, you know that I love you, you know that I'm proud of you.' She felt the tears finally come, and she let them, 'I can't lose you. I know what your plan is, I don't want to live if it's without you.' She wept. The sound of her sobs chilled her blood, she knew what was coming, Tony wouldn't do it any other way. She sat back in the chair. All she could do was wait. She put the earpiece back in her pocket.

Tony felt the anger fill his body, Pepper was afraid, she was crying, worst of all, she was crying for him. He hovered in front of the building, he began to blast the windows with his flame throwers, 'When you can, take the shot.' He instructed Hawkeye.

Within minutes, the glass was weakened enough for an arrow to penetrate. Hawkeye took his shot; with one arrow the glass shattered enough to render the window a useless barricade, Tony could see the confused faces of the men guarding the door which Pepper was behind. He took the opportunity to blast the rest of the window open and scare them, they took off running, they clearly weren't stupid. 'Bruce, Thor you're up.' Tony yelled. He could see on the infrared display on his HUD that they were sprinting up the stairs. Thor was in front taking the guards out as they ran down the stairwell. 'Hawk, the rest are yours.' Iron Man hovered in front of the window where Pepper was.

Hawkeye shot another arrow, 'With pleasure.' He replied.

Tony could hear the smile in his voice.

Through all the commotion, Bruce managed to get to Pepper, Tony could see whole scene unfolding before his eyes, before he could make a move for the rest of the guards, he felt a blast hit him in the gut, it knocked him out of the sky, he felt himself falling, 'Jarvis?' He yelled, he was heading for the ground at an unfavourable speed. 'Jarvis?' He repeated.

He braced himself for the impact, his head hit the back of the helmet, he felt the ground beneath his suit crack.

'Jarvis, power up.' He grunted, trying to lift himself from the ground. Without Jarvis, it was an impossible feat.

He felt his chest tighten, without the HUD he couldn't see any damage reports or stats.

He was helpless, he couldn't do anything, he lay still, listening to the commotion, a battle had erupted around him, he felt someone try to lift his arm, 'Tony?' a muffled voice yelled at him.

'Tony, how do I get the suit off you?' the same voice yelled.

Tony's breathing had become shallow, it felt as though a knife had pierced his chest, his mind wandered, did he impale himself on something when he fell, is that why Jarvis was offline? No, that wouldn't be it, Jarvis shut down when he was in the sky, when he was hit, his mind clicked, an electrical field, his whole suit was powered, his arc reactor, that's what he was feeling. The arc reactor was drained, the shrapnel was creeping its way into his heart.

'Tony?' The voice brought him back to reality.

'How do I get the suit off?' The voice repeated.

He had no energy to answer, he struggled to keep his eyes open, he felt tears escape from the corners of his eyes, his struggle for breath was agonising, and futile.

He didn't know whether he had closed his eyes and fallen asleep or whether the pain had rendered him unconscious, but he woke with a sharp jolt of pain to his chest, he was lying on the ground, without the suit, but he was alive. He gulped down the breaths; sharp, icy night air filled his lungs.

'You're alright Tony, get up, we need to move.' Steve spoke. He linked his arm under Tony's and pulled him to his feet, he hurried him off toward the safety of an abandoned bus.

Tony noticed the crumpled pile of red and gold metal which lay a few meters away from him. He looked around and noticed the Hulk standing by.

'Well that makes sense.' Tony muttered. 'Sorry, it was the only way to get you out, the EMP shut the suit down.' Steve explained.

His mind snapped back to Pepper, he remembered seeing Bruce helping Thor get her out. Tony clutched his chest, 'where's Pepper?' he breathed.

'She's safe, Thor's with her on the helicopter with Fury, they're headed back to base. Bruce thought Hulk could help out.'

Steve and Hulk stood looking around, Tony interrupted them. 'That was too easy.'

Steve raised an eyebrow, 'easy? You nearly got fried.'

Tony shook his head, 'that was a minimal defence move; he's got something else planned.' The phone in his pocket rang, he put it on loudspeaker.

'You know how easy it is shoot a bird down from the sky, when you've just shot down a fly?' the voice mocked.

'William.' Tony breathed. Steve leaned in while The Hulk stood in the street taking a battering of bullets from the guards across the road.

'You're not walking out of this alive, Tony.' William spoke.

'I'm pretty alive right now.' Tony said sarcastically.

'Yes, your green beast proves beneficial.' The snide remark made Tony furious. Bruce was a good friend; he was always a _beneficial _part of the team.

'You lost, Bessler, don't be a sore loser.'

'I begged a differ, Mr Stark, take a look.' He disconnected the call, and instead sent a streaming video of a target pointed at the S.H.I.E.L.D helicopter.

Steve and Tony looked at the video in disbelief. 'Son of a bitch.' Tony yelled.

He called him back, 'don't do anything, I'll do it, I'll come.' He surrendered.

He lowered the phone. He hung his shoulders in defeat. Clint and Natasha joined them finally. She saw the look on Tony's face, she didn't dare ask.

**So far, this chapter has been my favourite to write, please tell me how you thought it went, and thank you to those wonderful people who already reviewed this chapter before I took it down :(**


	12. Chapter 12

**Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews! I am so happy with the praise I've received for this story, it's because of your kind and empowering words that we, the writers find the inspiration! :D**

Tony stood still, but a million thoughts ran through his mind, ideas, theories, possible plans, nothing. Nothing would work. Bessler had the helicopter in his range. Pepper, Fury, Thor, the innocent pilot. He didn't know what to do. This ate away at him, inch by inch, eating away his façade of calm. For the first time in his life he had no idea what to do. Whatever he tried, Bessler would be quicker, with the push of a button the helicopter would come crashing down to earth. No one would survive that kind of an impact. He felt the eyes of his team on him, Natasha leaned against the bus, arms crossed over her chest, Clint stood beside her. He envied them. He couldn't bear the thought of never being that close to Pepper again, but the thought of Pepper dying, scared him more.

'Tony.' Steve said quietly. He was shattered, the plan was meant to work, and they were The Avengers. They were _meant_ to win, together, _all_ of them.

'We'll work something out.' Natasha broke the silence again.

'There's no time.' Tony said flatly, now pacing back and forth, racking his mind for any other option he could find, he knew there were none. 'We all know as well as I do, that there is only one way to finish this.'

Clint shook his head, 'no, we will find something, some way, there has to be.' He ranted.

Tony shook his head. 'You know that there isn't.' He spoke quietly. 'Look,' he began; sentiment wasn't one of his strong points, 'thank you.' He looked at each of their faces, 'for trying.'

'Don't' Natasha held her hand up, 'don't talk like you're not coming back, Stark.' She said sternly. She shook her head and looked away from him.

'Romanov, I know you'll miss me, but you got this guy to pester now.' He clapped Clint on the back. He managed a smile.

He knew that despite all their bickering, he actually _liked_ Natasha, she was a friend to him, a "confidant" as she put it. He remembered the first time that he met her, _Natalie, _he remembered thinking that there was more to her than the 'legal aid' that she introduced herself as. He realised then, as he did now, that Fury, Natasha, S.H.I.E.L.D in general, cared enough for him to put up with his antics, and his self-destructive ways. He sighed; he knew that his self-destructive ways got him here to begin with. It only made sense that it should end this way. He would do it for them, for everyone who placed faith in him.

Tony and Steve nodded at each other. They had never gotten along like he had with the others. Steve had taken an instant dislike to Tony, he told him once that he wasn't the type of man to lay his life on the line for someone else, that he wasn't worthy of being on this team. Tony retorted with an array of witty, smartarse responses, but he took it to heart. His father probably loved this kid more than him. He held it against him ever since. But now as he stood here, he realised that amongst all the chaos, and uncertainty, Steve was the one who stood by him and pushed this plan into motion. He believed in him and maybe, just maybe, Tony didn't dislike him anymore.

He took a last look at Bruce. The Hulk looked back at him, a knowing sadness in his eyes. Bruce was afraid of what he was, he didn't enjoy speaking about 'the other guy' nor did he understand how Tony was so fond of him. Tony instantly saw strength within Bruce, and felt that he was an ally even before they took on their first mission in New York. He remembered how much he disliked 'the other guy' and how annoyed he got when Tony said that he was a blessing in disguise. But he was right.

'Told you, you'd enjoy it.' Tony said confidently.

The Hulk grunted, even though the others didn't understand him, Tony did. He acknowledged his friends' unspoken words, and took his leave.

He would find Bessler and he would finish this.

* * *

Pepper couldn't sit still, she walked over to the small window of the helicopter as they took off, she saw a crumpled pile of metal, familiar red and gold shone from the street, illuminated by the streetlights. It was hard to see anything, but she couldn't mistake that.

'Where's Tony?' she breathed, her voice frantic, 'what happened?' she tried to get a better look of the street below. 'I saw him fall.' She cried.

Fury shook his head. He had no answers for her. He picked up the radio receiver, 'Cap, what's going on down there?'

'Some kind of electronic blast took Tony out, we got him out of the suit, he's a bit beat up, but he's ok.' A breathless Steve answered. 'But sir, we have a situation.' His tone of voice changed.

Fury looked out of the window with concern. 'What is it, Cap?' he asked, not being able to see anything in dark outside.

'There's a target lock on you, Tony's gone to take care of it.' He answered, his voice solemn.

Peppers eyes widened as they locked with Fury's. She snatched the radio from his hand, 'What do you mean Tony's _gone_ to take care of it?' she spat, not caring about her abruptness.

The line stayed quiet for an eternity it seemed, she felt the panic seize her. 'Steve, what is he going to do?' she pleaded clutching onto the radio, her lifeline.

'He's gone to talk to him.' He finally answered.

The irony of it made her laugh. Talk. If it were anyone else, this would be seen as a positive sign. But it wasn't anyone else, it was Tony Stark, and Tony Stark didn't solve problems by talking about them, he took action, he made things happen. Why was he talking to him? Her heart sunk, because his actions had failed, and he was desperate.

**Ok ladies and gentlemen, this story is coming to a close :( i'm very emotional about it, but if anyone is interested in reading more, please let me know and i'll start maybe planning a sequel/prequel? Love you all! Hope to hear from you xoxox**

**PS...i just figured out how to use the 'horistonal line' and it makes the chapter easier to follow, so apologies for the previous chapters being a bit crowded!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Here we go...the Epic Conclusion to The Avenged... :)**

Fury slammed his fist into the seat in front of him. 'Damn it, Tony.' He hurried over to the pilot. He put the receiver to his mouth.

'We're taking her down.' He said to Steve, ensuring the pilot heard him too. He nodded.

'No, don't do that.' Steve replied.

Fury looked at the pilot, holding his hand up to him, 'Why the hell not?'

'Because Bessler thinks he has you, if you do anything he'll know something's going on.'

Fury could hear the deceit in Steve's voice, but he agreed with him, Tony _was_ up to something, whatever it was; he didn't want anyone to know about, and Steve wasn't giving him up.

He saw the look on Peppers face; he finally understood what was unspoken.

'Stay on course.' Fury finally said to the pilot, who nodded.

'What's going on?' Pepper whispered.

'They're doing their job.' Fury answered, looking away from her. He didn't have the strength to look into the eyes of the woman who knew that the man she loved wasn't coming home.

Pepper took in the words she heard, she sat down beside Fury, wrapping her arms around her stomach and tightening them around herself. She couldn't help but cry, the uncontrollable sobs consumed her.

Fury wrapped an arm around her shoulder, he bowed his head. There was nothing that he could say or do to make this better. He just prayed that everything that Tony was planning to do, would work.

Thor looked at them; he too knew what Pepper feared. He leaned against the window, he had no words to comfort her, nor did he know whether comfort was even possible.

* * *

Tony found himself walking silently to face his fate; he wondered whether the lack of oxygen he sustained had clouded his judgement. The strange thing was that he felt entirely sure of what he was doing.

Suffering and injustice was a familiarity which he found himself living and breathing every day. Today he would be the one to put a stop to it. His mind was made up, there were no hesitant thoughts, no second guesses. He smiled to himself.

The cold, night air soothed his skin; he was still suffering the aftermath of his fall. His bones ached, his head was pounding, his heart felt as though someone had squeezed it like a lemon. The arc reactor had only shut down momentarily, however the damage it sustained from the EMP was irreversible. He noticed his sight start to dim, he pushed through it. He needed to make it long enough to see this through.

The sound of the distant helicopter was welcoming, he knew Pepper would be safe, she was with some of the only people in this world that Tony trusted; he looked up and smiled when he saw the helicopters lights moving away from him.

He looked up at the building at which he found himself. 'Let's do this.' He muttered aloud. Stepping into an external elevator, he pushed the button for the rooftop. A building, not unlike his own, but it was lacking in character he thought. A sharp jolt of pain shot through his body, it pulsed through his chest, spreading through every vein. He found himself slouching against the elevator wall, a heaving cough shook his whole body. The elevator doors opened at the rooftop, a cold chill welcomed him, he stepped out into the cold. Barely being able to walk without holding on to something he hurried himself; there was no way he was going to die like this.

'Struggling a bit, Mr Stark?' a voice jolted his mind back to his surroundings.

He looked up at him, Bessler. 'Who me?' he tried to grin through the pain.

Bessler stood at the other end of the roof top, a smirk crept across his face.

'Are you afraid, Tony?' he spoke quietly.

Tony felt his lungs closing in on him, he felt his knees weakening, he fell forward, he grabbed onto the railing. He looked at Bessler, whose grin had widened.

Violent coughs took over again, this time, he had no strength to stand, he fell to one knee, he held himself up with a clenched fist on the ground.

'You know, Tony, your father was afraid too.' Bessler spoke quietly; he put a hand on Tony's shoulder, pushing him slightly, enough to throw Tony off balance.

He fell to both knees; the anger was rising within him. He clenched his chest; he felt his stomach tensing, he heaved uncontrollably, Bessler's words sounded miles away.

'He cried when I stood above his crippled body, when I told him I'd hunt you down.'

Tony could feel tears escaping his eyes, his heart was failing, his lungs were failing, and Bessler's words cut into him.

'You can't kill everyone like me.' Tony breathed, barely being able to finish his words.

'No, but killing you will make me happy.' He laughed. 'Men like you, and your father who think you're better than the rest of us.' He ranted on, 'people like you who won't let other people's ideas come to light because they are _too unsound._' He flailed his hands in the air. Bessler kicked Tony to the ground. 'Without people like you, people like me get a chance.'

Tony could feel blood in his mouth; he choked on a cough, bringing the blood to the surface. He saw that Bessler's attention was drawn away from him.

'See this, Tony?' Bessler knelt near Tony's head, he leaned in to him, his face inches away from his. 'This little device here, Tony, I push this button and your little lady, and your pal's, will all be blown away.' He waved a small black remote above Tony's eyes. 'Now call them off.' He grabbed his face and turned it to face the helicopter in the sky.

Tony's heart sunk, why were they here? He told Steve to get out, to tell them everything was ok.

'Call them off.' He repeated. He held up a radio, 'call them off, or watch them die.'

Tony nodded, he tried to clear his throat, he could barely speak above a whisper, but it would be enough.

Bessler put the radio to Tony's mouth and nodded, 'go, please.' Tony croaked.

He held his breath, his eyes fixed on the helicopter, 'please.' He whispered to himself. Within minutes the helicopter turned and flew away. He could imagine the sound of Pepper's voice, her smile, he could feel her hand on his. He closed his eyes.

'Tony, we're not done.' Bessler whispered in his ear.

Tony felt a sharp pain bring him back to the roof top.

Bessler knelt beside him, in his hand, the arc reactor. He put in on the ground beside him; he stood up and crushed it with his heel.

A weak breath escaped Tony's lips.

'Now we're done.' Bessler said quietly.

Tony felt his breath quicken, he realised what was happening. Cardiac arrest. His heart was trying to survive, to feed his lungs with the oxygen they so desired. He knew there was no miracle survival of this. He knew the odds, he knew that there was nothing that could be done. But he was ok with that, Pepper was safe. Her hands in his hair, her hands in his.

Shots. Gunshots echoed somewhere near him. In the distance he heard the faint sound of a helicopter. No, Fury, damn it, what are you doing? You're supposed to be gone, long gone.

His heart had finally slowed down; his breath had become short. Sharp gasps escaped his lungs. He managed to turn his head in the direction of the gunshots. Fighting against the darkness which was creeping up on him, he saw his friends running to him, Natasha in all her glory stood with a gun drawn, she had killed the bastard. Good girl, he thought. He smiled weakly to himself.

The faint sound of the helicopter seemed to be getting louder. He blinked away the tears which pooled in his eyes; he had no strength to open them.

'Tony!' An angelic voice filled the air.

He tried to will away the haze which was slowly consuming him, momentarily it worked and the pain in his chest shot through him again, a sharp cough escaped his lungs, he felt the sticky metallic taste of blood splatter around his mouth.

A soft touch on his cheek, he smiled to himself.

'Tony.' She whispered. Her hot breath against his ear.

He felt a few droplets of water on his face, it was raining, when did it start raining?

'Tony don't leave me, please.' She cried, it wasn't rain, she was crying.

More voices joined in, calling his name, confusion took over, the darkness began to rush in now. It hit him in waves.

'Don't leave me.' She whispered into his ear again.

Sadness took over, it was Pepper, Pepper was here. He felt his own tears escape his closed eyes once more, there was nothing left, he couldn't open his eyes anymore. That struggle was long lost. He lay in her arms, holding on to his last breath, his last thoughts, he didn't want to leave, but he didn't want to hear the sadness in her voice.

He imagined her hands in his, her eyes, her smile, the way her face was illuminated by the glow of his arc reactor in the night, when they lay side by side, her lips on his.

He couldn't hold on anymore. He let go.

**So I hope I did OK by everyone! I know I was tearing up writing this, but I am very happy with how this turned out. As always, reviews/feedback are much appreciated! I may be writing a sequel/prequel, depending on what the general consensus is :)**

**Thank you for sticking around and following my story, reviewing and giving me awesome feedback! You have been amazing, so I may see you all soon with this story...depending on what the people want ;) otherwise I know I'll definitely be writing some more Avengers/Iron Man fanfic!**


	14. Chapter 14

**WOW! Brilliant reviews from everyone, I was so wraped by the responce I received. So here we go, a little bit of a continuation within the same story! Hope you enjoy :)**

Natasha stood in silence watching the scene unfold before her eyes, her gun drawn; small smoke trails escaped the barrel into the cold night. She saw the Terror in Peppers eyes as she threw herself to the floor, clutching at Tony's chest, she was hitting him, desperately screaming for him to wake up.

Steve rushed past her, followed by Bruce. They ran to their fallen comrade's side, Steve trying to pry Pepper away from Tony's still body. She fought against him, kicking and screaming, the ever poised Pepper Pots crumbled before their eyes.

'Tony, no, God no, Tony.' Her wailing screams pierced the night.

'Get her out of here.' Fury yelled to Steve as he arrived at the scene.

'No, no, Tony.' Pepper snapped back at Steve who pulled her away finally.

'What's going-' Clint's words trailed off when he saw what was happening. 'No.' He breathed. He moved closer to Natasha, he took the gun from her hand.

The paramedics arrived at the scene moments later, S.H.I.E.L.D had their own specialists, people who wouldn't talk, who wouldn't falter or choke when it mattered most. Fury stepped aside to let them work.

Thor watched them, their equipment, the defibrillator. He shook his head and quickly pushed them aside, 'this isn't going to work.' He knelt beside Tony, he placed one hand on his chest, and raised the other hand to the sky he called on the lightning with the Mjolnir.

Pepper watched on in horror, Steve held her back, shielding his eyes he looked on.

The sky opened up, rain cascaded against the bright streaks which cut across the horizon. Thor concentrated the electricity down towards them. The sky cracked with thunder, shaking the rooftop, with a bright, blinding flash the lightning shot through Thor and into Tony's lifeless body. The shock blasted the two apart, it threw Thor a few feet away from Tony, he landed on his back, he sat up, looking on.

Pepper finally broke free from Steve's hold, she stood silently watching, waiting. Natasha and Clint came to her side, no one dared move. Thor remained on the ground, he looked on, eyes wide with anticipation, the rain drenched his body, his hands still shook.

Bruce and Fury stood together, a few feet from Tony, they were the first to see it, a small twitch in Tony's hand, Bruce rushed to his side. Thor rushed over to Bruce and pulled him back. 'Don't touch him.' He warned, 'he's completely absorbed in electricity.' He knelt beside him and put his hand on his chest, 'he's breathing, but you need to replace this now, his heart is weak.' He bellowed pointing to the pieces of the broken arc reactor which littered the ground.

Steve took off immediately; he had to find a replacement reactor. 'I'll get it.' He yelled as he took off toward the stairwell.

Pepper fell to her knees; she let out a muffled cry, tears streamed down her face. 'Oh my God.' She breathed, 'thank you.' She breathed looking to Thor.

He smiled at her. 'You need not thank me, it is what friends do.' He pulled Tony from the ground and over his shoulder. He walked him to the waiting helicopter. He did not want Pepper to see the suffering he knew Tony would be going through in a few minutes.

'We need to get him the helicarrier, meet us there.' Natasha instructed.

Pepper watched them disappear into the helicopter. Fury and Bruce nodded.

'What a day.' Clint breathed, breaking the silence.

Pepper turned to face him; a smile crossed her tear streaked face. 'Indeed.' She managed.

Bruce ran a hand through his hair, he stood shaking his head. He watched as the helicopter took off with Tony. He saw the damage, he saw the blood. What could they possibly do for him now? He was a scientist, a doctor and he just witnessed a God, call on the heavens and bring Tony back. His mind was baffled. But _he_ had survived an accident no one should have walked away from. He noticed Pepper walk over to where Tony was lying just moments ago; she took a small piece of the shattered reactor and held it to her lips.

'They're a great team.' Fury said finally, gesturing to the helicopter. 'They'll do everything they can.'

'Come on, I'll drive.' Clint offered.

Peppers mind raced, she couldn't believe what she witnessed. Her heart was ripped out, and crushed, then put back in, a sloppy battered mess. She held onto the broken reactor, feeling Tony in it. Her tears hadn't stopped, she cried for joy, for uncertainty, she knew that Tony was breathing, Thor confirmed it, but she knew that he wasn't out of danger yet. His heart had sustained a powerful shock, first when he was shot down by the EMP and now when Thor brought him back. His heart was without the reactor for much longer than he should have been. She knew how dire the situation was. But she had faith, because it was Tony, he'd beaten the odds before, and she knew that he could do it again.

* * *

'I'm going to need you to hold him down, this will be painful.' Thor explained to the two medics attending to Tony's vitals. He nodded that it was safe to approach him. The male medic attached a heart rate monitor to Tony's chest and the female medic applied an oxygen mask to his mouth.

'His heart rate is dangerously low. We'll need to get it up or he'll go into cardiac arrest again.' The man spoke.

The woman nodded, 'we're going to have to get the reactor back in soon. He won't have long unless we do.' She explained.

Thor nodded, he turned to Natasha 'I'm going to need you to keep his temperature down.' He instructed.

Natasha took a cloth from the side of the stretcher, she wet it and applied it to Tony's forehead, he was burning up, she felt the heat radiating from his skin. She brought the small bucket of water closer to her.

'He's burning up.' She whispered.

'I know. It's going to get worse.' Thor looked down at Tony. 'When we get the reactor back in, it should, hopefully take over the charge in his blood and bring his heart rate back up.'

Natasha looked at him wide eyed. 'The charge in his blood is keeping him alive?'

He nodded, 'and if we don't keep his temperature down it will kill him.'

Natasha nodded, she kept re soaking the cloth, and applying it to his face. He was shaking violently, gasping in pain, mumbling something incoherent. He was struggling against the grip of the two medics and Thor.

'How is this working?' Natasha asked quietly.

'It's creating a magnetic charge, it's keeping the metal from going any further.' He answered, still holding Tony's arms down.

Natasha nodded, she knew that Tony was running out of time, she didn't know how long he had. 'It's ok, Tony, you're ok, try to relax.' She stroked his forehead, she tried to calm him. He only fought more.

'This is bad.' She looked up to Thor.

'We need to hurry.' He muttered, pushing down on Tony's arms.

'ETA?' Natasha yelled out to the pilot.

'Approximately twenty minutes.' He yelled back.

'He doesn't have twenty minutes.' Thor looked down at Tony; he swiftly picked him up and threw him over his shoulder. 'Open the door.' He instructed the pilot.

'Wait, what are you doing?' Natasha tried to step in front of him.

'If I don't get him there now, all of this will have been for nothing.' Thor explained, 'move.' He said firmly.

Natasha stepped aside, 'open the door.' She told the pilot.

The door opened, the rush of wind shocked Natasha. She stumbled backwards. 'Hurry.' She yelled over the noise of the rushing sound.

Thor, with Tony over his shoulder leaped from the helicopter and took off into the stormy night sky.

The door closed, Natasha took to the front of the cabin, she took the radio from the pilots' console. 'Sir, do you copy?' She called.

'Come in Agent Romanov.' Fury replied.

'Thor has taken Tony to the helicarrier, we weren't going to get there in time, we need the reactor now, what's Steve's ETA?' Desperation flooded her voice.

The line stayed silent, minutes passed by, she clutched the radio, waiting.

'He's on his way, he's nearly there.' Fury replied finally.

'Good. I'll see you there.' She sat beside the pilot. 'Get yourselves ready, it's going to be a quick changeover when we land.' She turned to look at the medics.

'We're ready.' The male answered.


	15. Chapter 15

Steve stood on the helicarrier, rain washing over his body; he looked to the sky, waiting for Thor and Tony, an arc reactor in his hand. 'Come on, come on.' He whispered into the night.

A small group of S.H.I.E.L.D agents stood behind him, guarding the doorways, 'where are you?' he whispered into the night. A streak of lightning drew his attention, the sky opened up and Thor came speeding down, he landed a few feet away from Steve, on knee on the ground.

'We need to get him inside.' Steve muttered leading Thor toward the entry. The agents moved aside for them.

They were met by a familiar face, Erik Selvig, there was no time for reunions. They hurried down the hall following Selvig.

'How long was he gone?' Selvig asked, as he swiped his key opening the door to the medical unit.

'Six, maybe seven minutes.' Steve answered, 'I'm not sure.'

'When did you restart his heart? He turned to Thor, who had put Tony down on a bed in front of them. Selvig put a hand on his head to hold him steady.

Tony's condition had worsened, he continued to mumble incoherently, he thrashed against Selvig's hand, Thor held Tony's left arm down as Steve pushed down on his right.

'Just over ten minutes.' He answered.

'Ok,' Selvig looked around; he took the reactor from Steve's hands. He inserted it and stepped back. 'Come on Mr Stark.' He whispered.

The arc reactor came to life; a blue glow filled the room.

'He's still burning up.' Steve said touching Tony's forehead with the back of his hand.

'He's not out of the woods just yet.' Selvig said quietly. He took a stethoscope from a nearby shelf; he pressed it to Tony's chest. He shook his head. 'His heart has suffered a massive shock; we don't know how much damage the shrapnel has done.'

'What can we do?' Thor asked quietly.

'Wait.' Was all he could offer. Selvig pulled a stool across and sat beside Tony; he was still shaking, he gently put a hand on his. 'Come on son, you can pull through this.' He spoke softly.

Thor stood beside him, arms crossed, he bowed his head, he saw the painful expression on Tony's face, he was suffering. The corners of his eyes were wet. He knew the strain he was going through. The pain must have been unbearable.

Steve leaned against a bench on the other side of the room; he looked intently at the three men. 'He can't die.' Steve finally said. He knew how stupid that sounded. Of course he could die, he was a man. He couldn't believe that someone who had risked so much to become a better person could just die like this.

'We've done all we can.' Selvig tried to reassure him and Thor.

Steve shook his head, 'I'll be outside. Someone should wait to meet them.' He left the medical unit. Stopping just outside the door he stood looking down at the floor. His mind wandered back to the first mission the team went on together. He remembered insulting Tony, telling him how worthless he was. He sighed loudly, he never told him that he was wrong about him, they worked numerous times since then, and he never thought to apologise. he slammed his fist into the wall, he cursed himself. He told Tony that he was arrogant, now Steve felt worse, so many chances to apologise and he didn't, because of pride? Because he didn't think Tony needed to hear it? He shook his head and headed to the entrance from which he came.

'He'll be ok.' Clint said quietly.

* * *

Pepper was running her fingers over the small piece of Tony's arc reactor that she was still holding. She smiled weakly, not looking away from the fragments in her hand.

Fury pulled over in a small area near Tony's private hangar. He put his phone to his ear. 'We need air lift to the carrier.' After a few moments he opened the door, 'they're ready for us.'

Clint and Pepper and Bruce followed him to the waiting S.H.I.E.L.D helicopter. The pilot took off as soon as they took their seats.

Pepper sat in silence, ignoring the sideways glances from Fury and Clint. She kept her eyes focussed on the object in her hands.

'We'll be there in five minutes.' The pilot announced.

The rest of the ride was silent, no one spoke, Pepper didn't move her eyes from the pieces in her hands and neither Clint nor Fury spoke.

Bruce gently touched Pepper's hand, 'you know Tony will pull through this, for you.'

She couldn't bring herself to speak, every fibre of her being was focussed on keeping composed and keeping poised. She simply nodded.

They landed on the helicarrier, and exited the helicopter. Pepper found herself running to the entrance. She was met by Steve, 'where is he?' she managed.

'He's in the med unit.' He said quietly, he led her through the doors.

'How is he?' she asked quietly as they made their way down the hall.

Steve thought about his words carefully. 'He's still critical.'

Pepper stopped in front of the doors to the medical room, before she could enter, Steve stepped in front of her. She gave him a puzzled look.

'He's really weak, Pepper, we don't know, well we don't know how much damage was done.' Steve spoke quietly.

Pepper stepped back from the door, she turned all her attention to Steve, 'tell me.'

'The shock he sustained during the EMP and the time between being brought back has left his heart weak; we don't have any way to know how he'll pull through.' He explained.

'He'll pull through this. I know he will.' Pepper said weakly. She had to believe it, it was all she had to hold on to.

Steve nodded, he knew that Tony was the most stubborn person he had ever known, and his love for Pepper made him even more so. He knew that if there was anything that would push him to survive, it would be her. He would come back to beam his smile at her, to make her feel as though everything would be ok, and that nothing would challenge them. But mostly he would come back, because her love for _him _was the most important thing to Tony. Steve knew how wrong he had been, and when Tony came back to them, he would let him know.

**Hope everyone is still with me :) As always let me know what you think, any preferences for more angst, more Avengers bonding or more Pepperony (which is coming) let me know!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Well, here we go, some Pepperony :) Thank you to the wonderful people who've provided awesome feedback and ideas, they're coming in the next few chapters, really exciting stuff!**

Pepper stood with her back against the door. Thor and Selvig looked at her silently. Selvig got up from his seat and gestured for Thor to follow him. 'We'll give you some time.' He said to Pepper, he gently squeezed her arm as he left.

'Thank you, Doctor.' She smiled at them.

Once alone Pepper slowly walked over to Tony, whatever composure she was holding, fell to pieces as she took Tony in. His body drenched in sweat, shaking, incoherent whispers escaping his lips. She slumped into the chair where Selvig was sitting earlier. She took Tony's hand; she laid her face against it. She let her tears fall freely, she sobbed into the sheets. She wrapped her arm around his waist and pulled herself closer to him.

'Oh God, Tony, I'm so scared.' She whispered.

Pepper wrapped her arm tighter around Tony's waist, his body shook under her arm, she moved her head to lean against his chest. She closed her eyes; his shallow breaths broke her heart. The weak murmur of the arc reactor mirrored the faint heart beat she felt. She couldn't remember ever seeing him this vulnerable. She kissed his cheek, 'It's going to be ok, I'm here.' She whispered into his ear, she ran her fingers through his hair. 'It's going to be ok.' She repeated. A knock on the door stole her attention.

The door cracked open, Clint and Natasha stood at the door.

'Sorry, can we come in?' Clint asked quietly.

Pepper nodded. 'Sure, come in guys.' She took a hold of Tony's hand again, and looked back at him.

'How's he doing?' Clint stood by Pepper.

Pepper shook her head, not looking away from Tony. 'I don't know.'

Natasha touched Tony's face. 'He's still hot.'

'I know.' Pepper whispered, she kissed his hand, 'I don't know what to do.'

'What did Doctor Selvig say?' Natasha asked quietly.

'He didn't tell me anything, but Steve said his heart sustained a lot of damage, they don't know-' she sighed loudly, feeling her voice break she wiped away the tears, 'they don't know how much damage.'

Clint gently touched her shoulder. 'Just be there for him.'

Pepper cleared her throat, she paused, 'why didn't anyone take Bessler out before?'

'We were under orders not to.' Clint answered.

'Who's orders?' Pepper asked quietly, not taking her eyes away from Tony.

'Tony's.' Clint replied.

Pepper nodded, 'what did he tell you?'

Natasha pulled up a stool and sat on the other side of Pepper. 'He said that there was an EMP lock on your helicopter and that if anyone touched Bessler before Tony was dead, he would fire the EMP, a remote trigger.' She explained.

Pepper sighed. She needed to know. 'How did he know?'

'Bessler contacted him, he gave him instructions, Tony thought that we could outsmart him, get you out before he could do anything,' Natasha stood up with her back to Pepper, she crossed her arms, 'we failed, Bessler was one step ahead of us, he had the EMP set up, he gave us a taste when he shot Tony out of the sky.'

'Steve told us after Tony left that we were to stand down, at all costs.' Clint continued, 'we had no choice.'

Pepper bowed her head, 'I know.' She whispered.

Natasha nodded, 'we'll give you some privacy.' She took Clint by the arm and they walked away from Pepper and Tony.

'Thank you.' Pepper said quietly, 'for finishing this.'

'You don't need to thank me. It's what we do.' She smiled.

The two left Pepper alone with Tony. His breathing had slowed down, he was quieter. She noticed the faint glow of the arc reactor was vibrant and stable.

'Tony, please, you have to pull through this, you have to come back to me.' She brought his hand to her lips, she kissed his knuckles, 'I know you can hear me, I know you did this for me, but I'm safe now, so you can come back.' She spoke quietly; she barely heard the words come out of her mouth.

Tony stirred, his hand tightened around hers, Pepper's eyes shot open, she looked at him, his mouth slightly open, 'Pep.' The word was barely audible, but she heard it.

A smiled crossed her lips, 'Tony.' She breathed; she moved her face closer to his face, 'I'm here.'

Tony turned his head slightly to face her, he cracked his eyes open, a faint smile crept across his features. He sighed weakly. 'Pepper.'

'Yes, Tony, I'm here.' She kissed his lips, 'oh, god, Tony.' She breathed.

Tony cleared his throat, he pulled her hand down closer to his body, he reached up and cupped her cheek with his other hand.

'Don't cry.' He croaked.

Pepper let out a laugh, she couldn't hold back her emotions, so much had happened, so many feelings ran through her. 'Oh, Tony.' She shook her head; she leaned in and kissed him. It was passionate, and gentle, so much raw emotion in such a subtle kiss.

'I love you.' Tony breathed against her mouth.

'I love you.' Pepper whispered back.

Tony eased himself up, his weakened state made this a struggle, Pepper wrapped her arm under his and helped him up, he leaned against the wall, resting his head against the cool concrete. He sighed deeply, a sharp pain in his chest caused him to wince, he gasped loudly.

'Tony.' Pepper moved closer to him.

'I'm ok, I'm ok.' He breathed. He took a hold of her hand again. 'How long was this out?' he tapped the reactor in his chest.

'I don't know; they rushed you here before I had a chance to ask, or do anything.' She replied.

'Who brought me here?' He asked, trying to slow his breathing down, control his heart rate. He rubbed his temple with his forefinger, his eyes closed in pain.

Pepper ran her fingers through his hair, 'Thor did, he flew you here.'

Tony's eyes cracked open. 'Hammer time_ flew _me here?'

Pepper rolled her eyes, but a smile played on her lips, she knew Tony was back, battered and sore, but he was back, with her.

'Yes, Tony,' she kissed his cheek, 'he said that there wasn't enough time to bring you here the traditional way.'

He nodded, 'well, it's good to see my team care so much about me.'

'Or they just didn't want to deal with me if you died.' Pepper corrected.

'That too.' He agreed.

Pepper climbed into the bed to join him, he pulled her into his chest, her head resting against the reactor, its quiet hum brought familiar comfort to her, she closed her eyes, fingers intertwined. Her mind was at ease finally.

He kissed the top of her head, and leaned his face against her hair, he breathed her in. He felt her body relax in his grasp, and her breathing slowed down, she was asleep, a content smile across her lips.

**As always, friends, inform me of your opinions/ideas! Thanks for being awesome :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**WOW...after so long of not being able to think about or ever write anything good for this story, I'm back, and loving every moment of it! Thank you for all your wonderful support during this momentary writers block moment I faced! All is well, and hope you enjoy :)**

Pepper woke hours later, after a few moments of confusion she remembered where she was, in Tony's arms, but something was different, she was cold, she turned her head to check on the arc reactor, it was still glowing, she breathed a sigh of relief.

'Tony?' she yawned.

She got up from the bed, his arm dropped by his side, 'Tony?' she repeated, gently shaking his arm.

He remained still, short breaths escaped his lips, but his eyes remained closed. Pepper ran her hand across his face, she gasped.

She ran to the door leading out of the medical room, she ran down the hall, yelling for someone to help. 'Doctor Selvig, please, Doctor?'

Erik Selvig rushed to meet Pepper in the hallway, 'what is it?' he breathed.

'Something's wrong.' She explained, rushing back to the med room.

Selvig rushed to Tony's side, he touched his forehead. He was slumped against the wall, his head lulling to one side, whispering something unintelligible, his body was trembling.

'Tony, I need to lay you down.' Selvig pulled Tony down to lay him flat. Tony continued to mumble incoherent sentences.

'What's happening to him?' Pepper stood behind him, eyes wide with concern.

'He's going into shock Miss Potts, he's got internal bleeding.' Selvig pushed her aside, he pulled Tony's shirt off his body; the blotchy, blue bruising around his sternum clashed violently against his pale skin. His shudders became more pronounced.

'Oh my god.' Pepper breathed.

'I need Doctor Banner here.' Selvig instructed.

'Why isn't Jarvis working?' Pepper yelled anxiously as she pulled out her phone to dial Bruce. 'Bruce, Doctor Selvig needs you now. Medical room, please hurry.' She breathed.

Within minutes, Bruce and Steve had come through the doors.

'What's wrong?' Bruce asked looking around.

Selvig had already applied an oxygen mask to Tony's mouth and started him on an IV drip.

Bruce took a hold of Tony's arm, he pressed his forefinger to his wrist, 'how did we miss this?'

Selvig shook his head, 'internal bleeding caused by blunt force trauma sometimes isn't apparent until several hours later.'

Bruce jotted down Tony's heart monitor readings, he handed them to Steve while he continued to monitor the ECG.

Selvig shook his head. 'We need to get him into surgery to repair the bleeding, and we need Jarvis online, we need full body scans, Bruce?'

'I'm on it.' Bruce left for the lab, he and Natasha were the only other people aside from Tony who knew how to reboot and restart Jarvis. After the EMP fried the connection to him, no one had thought to get him back online. If they had they would have picked up on Tony's worsening condition.

Steve continued jotting down the reading just as Bruce had done, after a few phone calls from Selvig, Tony was taken into surgery, Pepper stood silently looking at the floor, Steve stood beside her. 'He'll be ok.' He tried to comfort her.

'I don't understand.' Pepper whispered. 'He was fine.'

'He's in surgery, they'll fix it.' Steve said quietly, he left her to her thoughts.

* * *

Several hours passed, Pepper sat quietly, staring at the clock on the wall.

Jarvis finally came online. 'Hello Miss Potts.'

'How is he Jarvis?' She spoke quietly.

'The surgery is going well, he will be out shortly.' Jarvis replied coolly.

Pepper breathed a sigh of relief. Her mind relaxed. She took a seat. She would wait; she would be here when Tony got back. She leaned against the wall, she closed her eyes.

* * *

'Hey, how you feeling?'

A disconnected voice jolted Tony's mind back to the present.

'Oh man, like I died twice.' Tony laughed.

He opened his eyes finally and saw Rhodey standing above him.

'You had us worried.' He spoke gently patting Tony's shoulder.

Tony cleared his throat, he tried to sit up, Rhodey pushed him back down, he shook his head.

'How are _you_ doing?' Tony asked.

'I'm ok, I had a bit of a jolt, nothing like what you went through.' He laughed weakly. His smile left his face, instead he took a seat, he looked down at his hands and shook his head at Tony. 'What were you thinking man?'

'Don't.' Tony closed his eyes. 'Don't do this.'

'Don't what Tony; do you have any idea what you put us through?' Rhodey said.

'I'm not doing this with you Rhodey.' Tony said firmly.

'The hell you're not, your team, me, Pepper, how the hell do you think we felt?' He stood up, he threw his hands in the air, he paced back and forth, 'this lone gunslinger act-'

Tony cut him off, 'they were going to kill her, and my team.' Tony finally yelled back.

Rhodey stoped pacing back and forth.

Tony gasped for a breath. 'They didn't tell you that?' he asked looking up at him weakly. He tried to sit up.

Rhodey moved to his side, he tried to help him up.

'I'm fine.' Tony pushed his hand away.

'I'm sorry.' Rhodey said quietly, he sat back down, he put his head in his hands, he leaned his elbows on the bed. 'You're my best friend man, I just, I lost it when I thought you were dead, and then they tell me you walked your ass in there.'

'You know I do what I do because I _have _to.' Tony said quietly.

'I know.' Rhodey nodded. 'How do you feel?'

'Tired, exhausted.' Tony muttered.

'Rest up man, we'll talk when you're up to it.' Rhodey took his leave.

Tony lay silently in the recovery room, starring up at the ceiling.

His mind was blank, his body was exhausted, his heart had taken a beating, but he was here. He wanted to see Pepper, to hold her, to tell her he was ok. His heart was willing but his body was not able. He decided against it, for now. He would see her when he could tell her with certainty that everything was going to be alright. For now, he needed to convince himself of that first.

**Thank you all for reading! Let me know how I went, as always, ideas and hints are much appreaciated :)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Straight into some story telling!**

'_Stop, Natasha, what are you doing? We have orders!' Clint yelled._

_She ran forward ignoring the man running after her. 'Screw the orders, he's going to kill him.' She yelled._

'_He'll kill them if you don't back down.' He yelled after her._

'_Bruce has isolated the EMP, he won't get a chance to use it before I get a shot at him.' she ran up the flight of stairs._

_Clint ran after her, she took two or three steps at a time, he couldn't keep up. Instead he saw a group of men rounding the corner coming after them, he took them on, giving her a clear run to the roof._

_Natasha ran as fast as she could up the stairs, she broke through the door to the roof top, she saw Tony lying on the ground, Bessler leaning over him, she took two steps forward, hiding behind a pillar she waited for a signal, in the distance she saw a light. After a few moments she took off toward the pair. 'Bruce, we need a medic, tell Fury to land on the roof, I've got this.' She raised her gun and fired, before the man could respond, he was down. She stood above him, shaking, breathless. She couldn't move. Her eyes were glued on Tony. his eyes on her. Pepper screaming, throwing herself on the ground next to him. Fury, the medics, rushing to his side._

'Hey, Nat, you ok?' Natasha woke with a start, Clint was shaking her arm. She sat up, looking away from him.

'Yeah.' She breathed, 'I'm ok.'

'I just keep thinking, if we, if _I _got there quicker.' Natasha trailed off.

'There's nothing that could have been done differently.' Clint tried to take a hold of her hand.

She shrugged him away. 'If I got there quicker, he wouldn't be dying.'

Clint sat beside her. 'he knew what he was getting into, he did it for Pepper, and for us, it was his choice, don't do this to yourself.'

Natasha nodded, she turned to face him, 'I know.' She took Clint by the hand and led him out, she always found comfort on the deck of the helicarrier, something about the rush of wind, and the cool spray of the ocean beneath them calmed her. They made their way outside, Natasha stood in the cold, Cling beside her.

'Jarvis said everything went well.' Steve joined them on the deck.

'What happened?' Natasha asked quietly.

Bruce came to stand beside them, 'internal bleeding, from the fall.' he looked out to the dark ocean, 'the damage is sometimes unapparent until several hours later.' He explained.

'But he's ok now.' Steve added.

'Good.' Clint smiled.

Natasha stood silently, looking out at the horizon; the dark, night sky captured her gaze, the clarity in such a dark setting was uncanny. She felt better, the news that Tony was going to be alright made her breathe easier. She felt guilty, first when she got him caught because of her rash actions, and now because she wasn't quick enough. The horror in Peppers eyes, as she clung to Tony, bore into her mind. She couldn't remember ever feeling so much guilt, and sadness. She knew what Pepper was feeling, she could see the raw emotion. She blinked away the memory.

'I'll be inside.' She muttered leaving the men on the deck. She needed to get back to sleep, maybe in her dreams she could escape the waking nightmares.

* * *

Tony found himself starring at the door to the medical unit. His vision was hazy, his chest was sore, but his mind was racing, he wanted to get up, he wanted to go to Pepper, to see his team. He tried to ease himself up, he laughed aloud. He found himself in this position many times over the course of his life, before he became Iron Man his reasons were different, alcohol related. Now it was because he was getting shot at, injured, operated on or tortured; sometimes in that order too. He looked over at Rhodey, he was sleeping in one of the office swivel chairs; he had his legs resting on Tony's bed. He looked around; the dimly lit room was further illuminated by his arc reactor. The events of the night came flooding back. He had obviously jolted suddenly, Rhodey's eyes shot open and he looked at Tony wide-eyed.

'What's wrong?' Rhodey stood up leaning in to his friend.

'Nothing, I'm fine.' Tony whispered, he pressed his forefinger to his temple.

'You sure, man?' Rhodey sat back down.

Tony nodded against the pillow. 'Yeah,' he breathed, 'just remembered what happened.'

'On the roof?' Rhodey asked quietly.

Tony nodded again. 'It's fine, I'm alright.' He tried to ease himself up again, 'you don't need to help, I'll get up on my own.' he said sarcastically.

Rhodey laughed, he eventually got up and helped Tony sit up.

'Did you stay here all night?' Tony asked. He pulled up his shirt to examine the damage.

'Most of it, Pepper was here, but I sent her to get some sleep, the others came and went.' Rhodey explained.

'Where's the suit?' Tony asked finally.

Rhodey cleared his throat, 'well, the hulk destroyed most of it, I made sure the rest was taken to your facility when I got here, and the Mark VII is in the armoury.'

Tony nodded. 'Thank you.'

A small tap on the door drew Rhodey's attention; he looked back at Tony, 'up for a visitor?'

Tony looked to the door; Pepper stood looking at him, smiling. Her eyes full of warmth, he didn't even realise that his own face broke into a warm smile.

'Always.' Tony replied.

'Well in that case, I'll leave you two kids alone.' Rhodey stood up; Pepper hugged him on his way out.

She made her way to Tony, leaned in and planted a kiss on his lips.

Tony wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer so that she was sitting on the bed beside him. He could feel her breath on his neck.

'Don't ever do that to me again.' She whispered into his ear.

He tightened his hold on her, he closed his eyes; he nodded, resting his face in the nape of her neck. 'I'm sorry.' He whispered back, he ran his fingers through her hair.

'I can't lose you.' Pepper said softly.

Tony sighed loudly. He knew what this did to her, what Iron Man put her through. As long as he was around, she would never be safe. He pulled back; he looked into her bright eyes, the sorrow and worry was clear to him.

'You'll never be safe, or happy, as long as I'm around.' He said finally.

Pepper looked at him, silently, without a second thought she slapped him across the face, after a few moments, she slapped him again. Tony sat quietly, looking at her, he could feel the tears stinging his eyes, his face burned, Pepper tried to slap him again, but he caught her hand.

'Stop.' He whispered, he pulled her toward him.

'Don't you dare do this Tony, who the hell do you think you are?' She struggled against his grip.

He finally overpowered her and she gave into his embrace. 'I love you too much to see you like this.' He said finally. He breathed into her hair.

'You don't leave someone you love.' She said quietly, still shaking in his arms.

'I don't want to, but I'm so scared that one day someone will get to you, to get to me.' Tony tried to explain.

Pepper shook her head, she pulled back so that she was looking into his eyes.

'I am in this willingly; I knew what I was getting into when I met you, Tony Stark.' The anger left her eyes,

Tony saw a warmth he recognised immediately. She was proud of him; he assumed it was something to do with the fact that he was thinking about someone else but himself. He had done that a lot lately, he had changed, mostly for her, so that she would be proud of who he was.

She cupped his cheeks in both of her hands, 'I knew that there would be threats against us, even before Iron Man, but it's nothing that we can't deal with together, like we've always done.' She smiled.

'I promise I will do everything I can to keep you safe.' He whispered to her.

Pepper pulled him into a deep kiss. He smiled against her mouth, he knew that he could never live without Pepper, but he found it even more comforting to know she didn't want to live without him either.

**A wonderful reviewer gave me some ideas about brining in flashbacks to the present to help tell the story, I hope I didn't confuse anyone, if so then let me know so I can improve! For the Pepperony lovers, like myself, I will be serving some more up shortly :)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Another shortish chapter, but I hope a good, pivotal one, thanks to all the wonderful reviews, it simply warms my heart to read how excited people get when they read my story...only becuase I know I'm not the only IM/Avengers obsessed fan out there heheh! Enjoy the chapter, more to come soon!**

'Jarvis, full body scan please.' Tony stood in front of the mirror in his room. It had been more than a week since Tony had been allowed to walk around on his own. He was a stubborn child when it came to his health. Pepper stood behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

'Does it hurt?' she asked tenderly running her fingers along the bruising around his ribs.

He turned to face her and took her hands in his and kissed them, 'not as much as it hurts not being able to do everything that I want to do with you.' He smiled cheekily.

She got up on her toes and leaned in to his ear, 'soon enough.' She whispered.

They stood, holding each other, content, smiling, until Tony broke away, 'I need to get some work done, _and_ it'll keep my mind busy.' He smiled.

'When you finish your homework, I'll be here.' She kissed him on the cheek.

Tony made his way downstairs leaving Pepper in their bedroom, with her notebook and piles of work to do.

'Jarvis, how's the scan coming along?' Tony asked once he reached his workshop. He took a seat at his desk; he pulled up the images of Jarvis' scanning program.

'It is complete, Sir.' Jarvis replied.

'What's the verdict?' Tony muttered looking at the charts before him.

'Your vitals are stable, the internal bleeding has been repaired and the reactor is functioning at one hundred percent.' Jarvis echoed through the room.

'Then why do I feel like crap?' Tony asked taking the reactor out and putting it on the desk in front of him.

'Perhaps the long term effects of high voltage running your heart are the symptoms you're feeling now, sir.' Jarvis offered.

'No, no it's something else, I know this feeling,' Tony leaned back and held the reactor in his hand, turning it over and over, 'this feels like the palladium Jarvis.'

Tony sat in silence, Jarvis had no answers, nothing that could help him, he _knew _what this was, and he could _feel _it.

'Your blood shows no traces of palladium, sir.'

Tony stood up; he ran his fingers through his hair. 'Run more tests.' Tony walked over to the bench, he retrieved the blood checker, the familiar prick on his finger brought back the memories, the pain, he had been dying, alone, and he couldn't tell anyone then, nor would he tell anyone now, if that were the case.

Jarvis spoke up as soon as the blood touched the surface of the reader. 'Right away.'

He leaned against the bench, he couldn't be going through this again, not again. The first time terrified him, he all but gave up on his life, on finding a cure, if it weren't for Fury, he would be dead. He sighed loudly.

'Scan is complete, sir.' Jarvis announced.

Tony felt his heart constrict, he knew he needed to know, he couldn't bring himself to ask for the results.

He walked over to the desk and sat down.

'What is it?' He asked apprehensively.

'Sir, it appears that your blood is in fact toxic, but it isn't palladium, and it isn't from the arc reactor.' Jarvis explained.

Tony looked up at the screens; he replaced the reactor and examined the results flashing up on the screen. 'What is from then?' he asked sternly.

'It appears to be a form of electromagnetic nanotechnology.'

'From the EMP?' Tony asked dubiously.

'Yes, it appears that when the suit was hit, it wasn't merely an EMP blast, but a transfer of a virus.' Jarvis answered.

Tony nodded, he stood up, pacing back and forth. 'What do we do?'

'The virus is attacking the reactor, sir, the only way to rid your body of it is to rid yourself of the reactor.' Jarvis answered.

'Great, so I just get a new one.' Tony replied.

'That won't be enough, it's a part of your body now, I must do further tests.'

Tony sighed, 'alright, keep me posted, in the meantime, back on the chlorophyll.'

'Indeed sir.' Jarvis agreed.

'Do me a favour, Jarvis, don't allow anyone down here while we're working on this.' Tony instructed.

'Very well sir.' Jarvis acknowledged.

Tony sat silently, save for the small progress beeps the computer made, watching the screens before him. He ran calculations and scenarios in his head, he had never seen this kind of EMP before, he was connected to the reactor, and the reactor was connected to the suit. It must have transferred into his blood stream upon contact.

He took a sip of the chlorophyll he prepared, he sighed, all too familiar. He watched the completion time or Jarvis' scans count down. He remembered Steve once said, _the computer was moving too slowly, _he laughed at this now. He silently willed Jarvis to hurry up. He sat in his workshop for more than four hours, or was it five? He lost count, as he did numerous times, getting lost in his cars, his suits, his research.

'Sir, Miss Potts is asking for you.' Jarvis interrupted Tony's thoughts.

'Tell her I'm busy Jarvis.' He replied.

'Sir, she is on the line.' Jarvis added.

Tony sighed, he leaned forward and cradled his head in his hands. 'Put her through.'

'Tony, what are you doing?' Pepper asked casually.

Tony looked down at the floor. 'Just research.' He lied.

'I want to get something to eat, come with me, you've been down there for five hours.' She pleaded.

'I'm coming close to a breakthrough, Pep.' He said simply.

The line stayed silent, he knew that he put her in the position to want to hurl something at his head on more than a few occasion, this time was no different.

'Ok, Tony, do you want us to bring you back anything?' She asked finally.

'No, I'm fine.' He said quietly.

Pepper cleared her throat. 'Is everything ok?'

'Yeah, of course it is, you know me, work work work.' He tried to sound normal, even throwing in a small chuckle.

Pepper finally agreed, he could hear the sigh in her voice, then a small giggle.

The line was disconnected, and Tony was alone again.

He leaned back in his chair; he leaned his elbows on the arm rests. The progress bar approached ninety-five percent, Tony sat up eagerly awaiting the results.

'Tests are complete.' Jarvis' voice echoed throughout the workshop.

'Show me.' Tony said simply.

**As always, please let me know what you think, as for the Pepperony, there may be some turbulance on the way, as well as some mega angst! Hope everyone is ok with this, as I just love to write it. The thought that heros suffer, and deal with emotional and physical strain, makes me appreaciate them even more. **

**And for those of you who are so inclined to read poetry/prose, check out my one shot "solace" and let me know what you think of that writing style as well as the angstyness :)**

**Your reviews are much appreciated and they honestly inspire me to write, bigger and better things! Thank you in advance :)**


	20. Chapter 20

'Tony's not coming?' Steve asked walking toward the car.

'No, he's finishing something off.' Pepper answered. She took a seat beside Bruce and Steve. Happy closed the door behind them.

'Where are we going people?' Bruce asked. He turned to look at the two new passengers.

Pepper tapped on the driver's seat, 'Happy, take us to the Italian restaurant on fifth.'

Natasha and Clint sat side by side in the limo, opposite Steve and Pepper.

'No problems.' Happy replied.

'So where's Tony?' Clint asked.

Pepper looked out the window as they drove through the beautiful streets of New York, 'he's working on something.' She answered.

She thought she was ok doing things without him, more and more she found it uncomfortable. She knew he hated being a "team player" he hated relying on others to do the work he wanted to do, and most of all he hated the group lunches, dinners and gatherings in general. She felt strangely alone, and let down. But this was Tony, this was how he always was, and she knew better than to think he would miraculously change his ways. She also knew that the last time his attention was this focussed on one thing, it was bad. He was dying and he didn't tell her. Could she blame him? She was the one who spat back, and shut down any attempts he made to tell her. And he made many attempts. She still hated herself for that.

'Did Thor stay with him?' Natasha asked.

'I think he just stayed behind, you know Tony does his own thing.' Pepper replied.

'Yes, I know that all too well.' Natasha and Pepper shared a small smile.

'We're here.' Happy announced.

They all stepped out; a swarm of people started taking photos with their phones or cameras as the team, led by Pepper walked toward the restaurant. She was used to this kind of attention, pulling into high end restaurants in limos. The others seemed slightly more shocked.

'Right this way, Miss Potts.' A young brunette waitress met them at the front, as was custom for Tony Stark's guests; she led them through to the back room which Tony reserved for his private use whenever he wanted.

'Thank you, Sarah.' Pepper smiled at her.

She and Tony were regulars here, and she knew Sarah was somewhat star struck seeing Tony.

'Mr Stark won't be joining you?' Sarah asked, a slight blush played upon her cheeks.

Pepper, smiled to herself. 'No, Mr Stark is busy this evening.'

'Of course.' Sarah replied, she handed out the menus and left the group to their discussions.

'Got some competition, Potts?' Clint laughed nodding toward the young waitress.

Pepper laughed, 'if swooning women were competition, then half of America would be considered dangerous.'

Clint laughed, 'well said.'

They ordered their meals and they ate, the laughed and talked, and even made fun of one another. Natasha and Clint argued their varying tales of Bucharest and Steve told of his culture shock, waking up to such a strange world. He discussed Howard, and how he had become good friends with him over a short time. Pepper immediately recognised the resentment toward Tony in his voice. She wasn't the only one, Natasha gave her a knowing look.

Pepper felt the eyes of the Avengers on her, she felt uncomfortable, she poised herself, and smiled, 'excuse me.' She stood up and left the table, she found herself in a small indoor garden room. The scent of magnolias and roses made her dizzy, but the beauty and serenity of the indoor oasis calmed her. She wished Tony was with her, she wished he would come, and be here; instead she sat alone, pondering what was wrong. Tony's reclusiveness unnerved her.

'Pepper?'

She heard Steve's voice behind the vast array of palm trees; he finally appeared from behind a large shrub.

'Wow, this is something.' He nodded to the plants.

Pepper smiled. 'Yeah.' Her mind was far from admiration of the shrubbery.

Steve took a seat beside her, 'I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?' he finally said.

'Not at all.' She replied quietly.

Steve looked down at his hands, 'Are you alright?'

She sighed, 'I'm fine, thank you, Steve.' She lied.

A rustle in the bushes made Pepper turn, she saw a young woman on a cell phone, she was talking quietly, smiling, and occasionally laughing, She sat by herself on another bench.

'Pepper,' Steve began, 'you don't have to do this.'

Pepper turned to face him, 'do what?' she asked, she had no idea what he was talking about.

'Let _him _make you feel like this.' He replied.

'I am not feeling anything.' Pepper replied. She had nothing better. She didn't want to discuss anything about her relationship with anyone, much less a man whom she knew, thought he was better than Tony ad resented him, still.

'I know that look on your face, it's misery; I wore that look my whole life.' Steve explained.

He turned his body to face her.

'You don't know what you're talking about.' Pepper looked away. He didn't. She wasn't miserable because of Tony, well she was, but not because of the reasons he was insinuating.

'Don't I?' He asked simply.

Pepper looked back at him, she studied his face, she saw the concern in his eyes, she saw the desperation to understand her. She shook her head.

'Tony, is Tony.' she said quietly, 'he may be distant, and detached sometimes, but he always has a reason to be.'

'He may have his reasons, but what reasons are good enough to isolate himself from you?' he asked.

They sat in silence, not a word spoken. Pepper finally cleared her throat. '_That_, is not your business.' She finally said. She didn't want to be rude, but she didn't appreciate prying. And she especially didn't appreciate what he was saying.

She stood up to leave, but Steve took hold of her hand, 'You can talk to me.' He said quietly.

She stood with her hand in his, eyes locked on each other. She didn't know what he was doing, or trying to do, she finally pulled her hand free from his. 'We should get back.'

Steve nodded.

They walked back to the group together. She couldn't keep her mind off Tony, what was he doing, why was he closing himself off from her. Again. He said he was fine, research, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

They said their goodbyes to the wait staff and Sarah walked them out.

'Pepper?' Steve called out. He walked over to her, holding his hand out to lead her to the car, Bruce, Thor and Natasha were already seated.

She looked at him, a wave of anger ran through her body, she stormed passed him and took the front seat next to Happy. She slammed the door shut and raised the privacy screen.

Happy looked at her questioningly, 'you ok?'

Pepper sighed loudly, and Happy took off immediately. 'No, not in the least.' She whispered. She pressed the palm of her hand to her forehead.

Happy glanced over at her, this was familiar, her, Happy, Tony, Rhodey, she could, and often would discuss anything and everything with them.

'What happened?' he asked, concern laced his voice.

'I said some things about Tony that I shouldn't have.' She muttered.

'To Steve?' Happy asked glancing at her again.

She nodded, 'yes, and someone was there.'

Happy shot her a look, 'Who? A reporter?'

'I don't know, I don't think so.' She shook her head.

'I'm sure it will be ok.' Happy offered.

She knew that it wouldn't. Things like this didn't stay secret, it wasn't a huge deal to a normal couple, but Tony and Pepper weren't normal. The world clung to celebrity gossip and drama, she closed her eyes. 'Take me home Happy.'

Happy nodded. The drive home was silent; Pepper shook her head a few times, muttering something to herself.

Happy pulled into the drive way. The others exited the car and headed back to the building. 'What did you say?' He asked her finally.

'That he was distant and detached.' She answered.

Happy nodded, 'that's not too bad.' He said.

Pepper snorted, 'yeah, in context it _is_ bad.'

Happy turned to face her. 'In which context did you say it?'

'In the context where Steve was insinuating that Tony was not good enough for me, and I told him it wasn't his business.' She explained.

'Oh.' Happy said simply. 'Well, _that_ could be bad.'

Pepper nodded.

'Was Steve hitting on you?' Happy asked finally, giving her a sideways glance.

Happy was always protective of her, even when Tony was around, but he, Pepper and Rhodey trusted Tony with their lives, she could see in his eyes, that he was not only protective of her, but also of Tony.

She deliberated her answer; she replayed the conversation in her mind. 'I don't know.' She answered honestly.

'Don't let anyone tell you what to think or feel, Tony loves you, and he will do anything for you, if he's being distant, there's a reason.' Happy explained.

Pepper looked at Happy's face, she nodded, 'I pretty much stabbed him in the back.'

'Don't write him off just yet, he may be a self-obsessed jerk sometimes, but you know he's reasonable when it comes to you.' Happy offered.

Pepper leaned in to hug him, 'thank you Happy.' She smiled.

'I never did like that Rogers, guy.' Happy grunted.

'You were all but throwing pictures at him to sign.' She raised an eyebrow at him.

'Yeah, but that was before he hit on you, and dissed Tony, only we're allowed to do that.' He said nonchalantly.

Pepper laughed and kissed him on the cheek. 'You're not wrong.' She left for the building.

She knew he was right, Tony was more than reasonable when it came to them. She actually felt intimidated; his usual childish, careless ways were non-existent when it came to her. She was disappointed in herself for ever thinking less of him, or even letting the thought cross her mind that he was just being detached because he was bored. She made her way up to his work shop.

**So...the story becomes twisty and windy! Wherever will it go? I guess we shall wait and see, and I would like to add, that don't worry boys and girls, good guys always come out on top in my stories hehehe ... let me know what you think, next chapter shall be up tomorrow night xx**


	21. Chapter 21

**So I went to Comic Con yesterday and was so amazed to see Stan Lee! So my motivation to write these characters grew even more, didn't realise that was possible! So here is the next chapter...hope you enjoy!**

After a few moments of deliberating whether seeing him would make her feel better or not, she decided to collect herself, and the paperwork she left for Tony to sign first. She made her way to the bar and the scattered crystal pieces caught her eye. 'Jarvis, where is Tony?'

'He is in the workshop, Miss Potts.' He replied.

'Is he ok?' She picked up the fragments and realised they were remnants of a glass, 'Jarvis?'

'He asked not to be disturbed tonight, Miss Potts.' Jarvis said.

'Why, what is he doing?' Pepper asked curiously.

'He is working on his suit.' Jarvis lied; he was programmed and accustomed to lying for Tony many times in the past.

'Ok, please tell him I'll be in bed.' Pepper said quietly. She made her way to their room. She found the shirt he was working in this morning on the bed, small blood stains dotted the collar, she sighed.

'Of course Miss Potts.' Jarvis answered.

Pepper lay down, her eyes not used to the darkness which engulfed the room; Tony was missing, his warmth and his light. She closed her eyes and willed sleep to take over.

_Earlier that night_

The screens in front of Tony lit up with three dimensional scans of his body. The rotating images were familiar to him; he looked them over, pulling the image off the screen to hover before him. He expanded the image with his hands, 'what is that?' Tony asked pointing to a silver streak trailing its way around his body.

'It appears to be a form of nanometal.' Jarvis replied.

'Is it being controlled?' Tony asked, still turning the image around to view it.

'No, it is self-sustained.' Jarvis answered.

'Ok.' Tony said. 'How is it affecting my body Jarvis?'

The three dimensional images in front of Tony disappeared; instead Jarvis directed Tony back to the screens he was standing in front of.

'The nanometal is bonding itself with your blood; and it is destroying the white blood cells in the process.'

He dropped to his chair, he sighed heavily. 'Well.' He cleared his throat. 'That doesn't sound healthy.' He took a swig of the chlorophyll. 'Any ideas?' He muttered.

His robots chirped quietly beside him, he looked over at them and smiled.

'Don't worry boys; I won't be taking your place if I turn into a robot.' Tony said quietly. 'If it's not one thing, it's another.' He sighed.

'Shall I inform Miss Potts?' Jarvis asked after a few moments of silence.

The question fell on deaf ears, Tony sat staring at the screens, the flashing numbers, words and images became a blur. His eyes lost focus and he just sat there, staring into an abyss of whirling color.

'Sir?' Jarvis called.

'Jarvis?' He called finally.

'Yes, sir?' came the ever obedient reply.

'Don't tell _anyone_.' He said quietly.

'Sir, you really should tell Miss-'

'I don't want to hear it Jarvis.' Tony interrupted.

Jarvis answered promptly. 'Very well sir.'

Tony stood up, he paced back and forth, 'if the metal is destroying the white blood cells, will transfusions be enough to control it?'

'That would be a suitable solution; however white blood cell transfusions are rare.' Jarvis explained.

'Right, because the granulocytes only last a few hours in the blood stream, got it, what's my other option?' Tony was losing patience.

'Chemotherapy may be a plausible option.' Jarvis offered.

Tony stopped pacing. 'No, out of the question.' He walked back to the chair and sat back down. He drank the rest of the chlorophyll. He sighed deeply and bowed his head, 'so basically, permanent daily transfusions or chemo, in which case I'd most likely destroy the healthy cells too, and probably die anyway.'

'Unfortunately those seem to be the only two viable options, sir.' Jarvis answered.

'Any long term options?' Tony asked hopefully.

'Not that I have come across, I will continue searching.' Jarvis replied.

Tony nodded, he shook his head, he was at a complete loss. At least it wasn't his fault this time. That had to count for something, right? He checked his watch, he had lost track of time, just before eleven, when had Pepper gone? Around five? He'd been in here for more than six hours; the whole day had passed him by. He collected his things and called it a night. He headed for the elevator.

'Sir, incoming call, blocked number.' Jarvis announced.

'Put it through.'

'Tony, how are you this evening?' A female voice echoed throughout the room.

'I am splendid, and you are?' Tony answered sarcastically.

'Christine Everhart, got a minute?' She asked.

Tony sighed, 'What do you want Christine, I'm busy.'

'I have something you want to see.' She said with the same chirpiness she always spoke with.

'Can't it wait?' Tony was exhausted, all he could think of was bed, sleep, holding Pepper in his arms.

'I don't think you want to wait to see this.' Came the reply.

'Fine, downstairs lobby, five minutes.' Tony walked into the elevator and pushed the button for the ground floor. 'Here we go.' He muttered to himself.

The doors opened and revealed an unusually busy floor, Tony had opened the ground floor to the public, he had commissioned a casual café, a restaurant and of course a bar, for the big New York city elite to meet after work to discuss big business deals and mergers.

'Eleven o'clock and Stark Tower is as busy as ever.' Christine came up behind Tony. A smug grin on her face.

'What was so urgent you dragged me all this way?' Tony let out an exasperated, overly dramatic sigh.

'I think we should grab a seat, and a drink don't you think?' She gestured toward a small table with two chairs.

Tony shook his head, he had made mistakes in his life and then he had made _mistakes._ 'Fine, whatever, make this quick, I've got things to do.' He was curious now.

'Take a look.' She handed him a tablet loaded with a video feed. She put her hand over it to stop it playing while she ordered a martini. Once it arrived she moved her hand and watched Tony with a smirk. 'Go ahead.'

Tony watched the video apprehensively.

Pepper and Steve, sitting side by side, talking.

'_Pepper,' 'you don't have to do this.'_

Pepper turned to face him_, 'do what?' _

'_Let _him_ make you feel like this.' _

'_I am not feeling anything.'._

'_I know that look on your face, it's misery; I wore that look my whole life.'._

He turned his body to face her_._

'_You don't know what you're talking about.'._

'_Don't I?'_

'_Tony, is Tony.' 'he may be distant, and detached sometimes, but he always has a reason to be.'_

They were holding hands, the video ended. His heart sank. He looked up at Christine, the smirk on her face made him sick. 'When was this taken?'

'Tonight, fifteen minutes ago.' She pointed to the time stamp in the corner of the feed.

Tony recognised the nature room immediately. He shook his head. 'Are you following Pepper?' he hissed.

'No, Tony, I was _actually _following the Avengers, well not me personally, I have people who do that for me, but I follow any large, breaking story, and this one just happened to fall into my lap.' She grinned.

'What do you want?' he asked flatly.

'Well, my editor would dieto have this little piece of insider knowledge, imagine the headlines.' She looked off into the distance, smirking to herself.

Tony's patience was wearing thin, 'what do you want Christine?' he repeated.

She snapped her eyes back to him. 'I want shares in your company, a decent offer and this little video gets swept under the rug.' She said leaning back into her chair, she crossed her legs, swinging one foot in the air.

'What do you want shares for?' Tony asked, humouring her.

'I love my job, but it's not really going anywhere new, I just want something to fall back on.' She said grinning at him.

'Buy your own shares; I'll take my chances with Vanity Fair.' He answered, he handed back the tablet and took his leave.

'It's not _just_ about _you_ though, is it, Tony?' she said firmly.

He stopped, he knew she was right.

'The Avengers would be torn, Pepper would be humiliated and you, well you would end up pretty much how you started out, no real loss for you.' She said, 'but _they _wouldn't cope quite so well, would they?'

He walked back to the table, 'how much did you have in mind Christine?'

She looked at him intently, 'five percent.' She smiled.

Tony took out his phone; he typed a few things in and handed it to Christine. 'Finger print.'

She took the phone, pressed her finger to it, a smile played across her face. She handed it back to him and remained seated, sipping on her martini. 'I know this money means nothing to you, Tony.'

'Not everything is about money.' He said flatly. He almost laughed at himself. He relied on his money to do everything in his life. Without his money, he wouldn't have had the means to build his suits, or stay out of reach of the government who wanted to possess the technology.

'Well, I hope you know, I may not like you, but I do keep my word.' Christine replied.

'I hope you know, just as I'm the only one who can approve _this_, I can just as easily revoke it.' He added.

'I am aware, thank you.' She said.

Tony finally took his leave. He cursed himself under his breath, he had no options, _he _could deal with the public scrutiny, _he _didn't care what the press wrote, but Pepper, and the team, they did.

'Have a good night Tony.' Christine called after him.

He didn't stop or turn; he continued walking until he found himself in the elevator, doors opening at his floor. He didn't recall pushing the button or even walking down the lobby. His mind was occupied with the thoughts of Pepper, Steve, the words that came out of her mouth. He walked to his bar and poured himself a glass of scotch. Under the bottle he found a folder with a set of legal documents. Pepper always left him things to sign while he had his evening drink; he glanced over everything and signed it. Routine. He took a swig and refilled it, after a few repeats he decided against sitting at the bar. He took the bottle with him and slumped himself down in one of the large arm chairs which occupied the floor. He sat forward with one elbow resting on his knee, his head in his hand, the other, gripping the glass.

'Sir, your blood toxicity levels need testing.' Jarvis announced.

Tony laughed, 'well, it's probably a bit toxic now.' He said sarcastically, the glass dropped out of his hand, it shattered, small crystal pieces scattered across the floor, without hesitation he picked the bottle up and to his lips and continued drinking.

'Sir, it is imperative.' Jarvis warned.

'Fine, fine, I'll get it.' He muttered, he stumbled to his feet making his way to the elevator, bottle in hand.

'Do you need assistance?' Jarvis asked.

Tony got into the elevator and pushed the button for the upper floor. 'Tell me where I left it?' he laughed. He walked into the workshop and looked around. He finished off the last bit of scotch and placed it on the table, it slipped off the edge and shattered on the floor, he sighed loudly. 'Where is it Jarvis?'

'It is on your desk, sir.' Jarvis replied.

Tony made his way to his desk and took a seat. He found the blood checker and pressed his forefinger to it. 'They should really make a less invasive way to test blood.' He muttered to Jarvis.

_Presently_

'Sir Miss Potts has arrived.' Jarvis announced.

'Tell her I'm busy, and that I don't want to be disturbed.' He replied.

He leaned back and closed his eyes, he knew the virus was making him weak, but he was still baffled by the speed at which he became incredibly drunk. He hadn't even come close to getting this intoxicated since he and Pepper got together, but he was in his own world right now. He was facing a virus he couldn't control, and a woman who didn't take him or his work seriously, and he finally admitted it to himself, it broke his heart.

**Poor Tony :( makes me sad, and so sorry to the Steve Rogers fans out there, I promise that I will redeem myself, and his character...but not before i have a little more Angsty fun muahuahahu...kidding, kidding. There will be redemption! Let me know what you think :)**

**And hopefully I didn't muddle the time sequence up too much...I struggled getting it all across sequentially!**


	22. Chapter 22

**I just wanted to say, firstly, thank you to everyone who has marked my story or myself as favourite! That's really exciting :) And I'm really enjoying the journey with all of you and loving the reviews!**

Pepper got dressed silently, no sounds of Tony's breathing, no sounds of Tony begging her to come back to bed. She was running late for a meeting, she deliberated whether she could take an extra five minutes to go and check up on him, her thoughts were chased away by the chime of her phone.

'Hey, Rhodey.' She spoke catching her breath.

She gathered her things as she spoke to him, mostly about Tony, and about the events of yesterday. She knew that if it got out, she would need someone whom she could talk to.

'He's been down there all night, and he didn't come to bed. I'm running late, if you have time could you please check on him?' she quickened her pace toward the elevator.

'Thank you Rhodey.' She breathed, hanging up she raced down the lobby to the waiting car. Happy was impeccable with his timing.

'Thank god, you're here.' She breathed, finally taking a seat beside him.

'Running late?' Happy asked, looking slightly amused at the dishevelled appearance of the usually ever poised Pepper Potts.

'Yes, really, really late.' She answered, stuffing everything into her purse.

'Did you talk to him?' Happy asked pulling into the street.

'No, he didn't come up from the workshop all night.' She replied, still trying to fit everything in.

'I'm sure he just got caught up with the suits.' Happy offered.

'Maybe.' She said quietly. Knowing damn well that wasn't the case.

Happy pulled into the private car park and Pepper stepped out. 'I'll talk to him.' He said offering her a smile.

'Thank you Happy.' She grabbed her things from the car and ran up to Stark International tower.

* * *

'Tony, you here man?' Rhodey wandered through the silent floor. No loud music reverberated through the walls, no sounds of explosions or repulsors gave a clue of Tony's whereabouts.

'Jarvis, where is he?' He finally asked. He made his way to the elevator to head down to the workshop. It was the only place he knew Tony found comfort.

'He is in the workshop, but he doesn't want to be disturbed.' Jarvis answered.

'Well, that's just too bad, because I'm going down there, so tell him to wake up and get dressed.' He instructed.

'Colonel Rhodes, he does not wish to be disturbed.' Jarvis said firmly.

'I know you're following orders, Jarvis, but this time I'm asking you to override.' Rhodey pleaded.

He stood in the elevator; it stopped at Tony's workshop. After a few moments, Jarvis opened the doors.

'Thank you, Jarvis.' He said finally.

He made his way to the back of the floor; he knew that most likely Tony would be working on his suits. He looked around and spotted him, he was sleeping, with his head resting on the desk before him.

'Oh Tony.' He muttered. He walked toward him, 'You would rather sleep down here with the robots than up there with you-' he trailed off. 'Tony?' he touched his shoulder, he didn't move.

'Tony?' he yelled, he pulled him from the desk and lay him on the floor. 'Jarvis what the hell is wrong with him?' Small pools of dried up blood circled Tony's nose and mouth.

'Mr Stark has not allowed me to reveal any information about his condition.' Jarvis responded.

'He's going to die, are you seeing this?' he yelled back.

Tony groaned under his arms, his cracked open, 'tell, tell him, Jarvis.' He croaked.

'Mr Stark has been infected with a virus which is destroying the white blood cells in his body.' Jarvis explained. 'It is a nanotechnology which is self-sustained, it is bonding itself with his body, it's weakening his immune defences.'

Rhodey pulled out his phone, Tony grabbed his arm and pulled him down towards him.

'Don't call anyone.' He managed.

Rhodey shook his head, 'we need to call someone, an ambulance, anyone.' He looked desperately into his friends eyes.

'No, no one.' Tony stammered.

'I can't help you, Tony, you're not thinking straight.' He took the phone out again.

Tony tried to grab Rhodey by the arm again, but he pulled free. He put the phone to his ear. 'Happy, I need you in the workshop, hurry.' He replaced the phone.

He took Tony under the arm and pulled him up, he sat him up against the wall. He looked at him intently, 'what's going on man, why won't you let anyone help you?'

Tony looked back at him; he closed his eyes, 'because no one _can _help.' He panted.

Rhodey stood up, he walked over to the bar fridge, he pulled out a bottle of water and wet a small cloth he pulled from the shelf, he wiped the blood from Tony's mouth; his arms lay limply by his side, Rhodey shook his head.

'Jarvis explain this to me.' He instructed.

Jarvis displayed all the screens Tony was looking at the night before, he brought up the three dimensional images of Tony's body as well as the latest blood stats.

'We are currently looking for viable options to contain the damage without it developing any further.' Jarvis explained.

'How did he get infected?' Rhodey asked, still kneeling beside Tony.

'The EMP which Bessler used to incapacitate you, was also used on Tony, the blast itself was not only electro-magnetic, but a physical force which consisted of the nanomites.'

'Why didn't anyone else get infected?' Rhodey asked quietly.

'The nanomites invaded Mr Stark's body through the arc reactor.' Jarvis answered.

'Rhodey? Tony?' Happy yelled out as he made his way through the workshop.

'We're here.' Rhodey replied.

Tony shook his head. He held back a cough; a chortled groan escaped his lips.

Happy rushed over to them when he saw Tony sitting against the ground. 'What happened?'He knelt down to face Tony.

'He's not doing well.' Rhodey replied.

Tony rolled his eyes, 'I will be ok.' He breathed.

Happy stood up and pulled Rhodey by the arm to join him. Happy leaned in to him, 'has he been drinking?'

'I don't know. I think we should get him to bed.' Rhodey suggested.

The two men helped Tony up to his bed, they made sure he was comfortable, Happy stood beside him. 'I'll let Pepper know as soon as she's out of the meeting.'

Tony shook his head against the pillow, 'no, not Pepper, I don't want her here.' He muttered.

Happy sighed, 'can you give us a few minutes?' he looked toward Rhodey.

'Sure, I'll be in the kitchen.' He left them.

'You need to speak to Pepper.' Happy said quietly.

'No,' Tony began, he lifted himself up to sit against the wall, 'I don't want her to see this.' He said quietly.

Happy looked at him quietly, 'I'm sure she doesn't care about any of that Tony, she would want to know what you're going through.'

Tony let out a small sigh, he smiled sadly at Happy.

'Tony, you didn't tell her last time, do you remember how much that hurt her?' Happy reminded him.

'I was dying then, I'm going to be fine, transfusions, chemo, something. I'll find something.' Tony replied.

They looked at each other silently, Happy finally broke the silence. He cleared his throat. 'What's going on with Pepper?'

'You tell me, you drove her home.' Tony retorted.

'You obviously already know, so what's going on?' Happy repeated.

'Nothing is going on.' Tony snapped back.

'You're a stubborn arse. Did you talk to her or not?' Happy glared at him.

'Not.' Tony replied.

Happy rolled his eyes; he sat on the bed beside Tony. 'So what _do _you know?'

Tony looked back at him, annoyance etched on his face. 'I _know_, that the one person I expected would take me seriously after everything would be Pepper, I _know_ that I let her down, and I _know_ that no matter what I do to change myself, it's not going to be good enough for her.'

Happy snorted, 'you know what I know? You're an idiot.' He said flatly. 'She loves _you_ and you alone. Yes you may disappoint her, that's life, but she is still here, still calling me, Rhodey, whoever she can to check up on you because you won't let _her_ do it,' he explained, 'you know, Tony, for a genius, you can be really stupid sometimes.'

Tony looked away, he smiled. 'That may all be true, Hap, but you know as well as I do, I'll always end up letting her down.'

'She might not agree with that.' Happy replied. He raised his eyebrow at him. 'Why won't you talk to her about this?'

'I don't have the energy to, so much going on.' He answered quietly, he looked down at his hands, they were trembling.

'How bad is it, tony?' Concern laced his voice.

Tony looked up at him, 'it's bad.'

Happy nodded, he looked down at the ground, he sighed heavily. 'You have to tell her.'

'I know.' He leaned back against the wall, 'I just need some time, to work some things out.'

Happy stood up, he squeezed Tony's shoulder, he got up to leave.

'Christine Everhart knows.' Tony said flatly.

'About _this_?' Happy turned to face him.

'About Pepper.' He furrowed his brow, and scratched his forehead.

Happy looked at him with concern 'What are you going to do?'

'I've taken care of it.' Tony replied.

Happy walked back towards him, 'what did you do?'

Tony looked back at him 'She wanted money, I paid her off.'

Happy shook his head, 'Tony, participating in extortion isn't something you want to add to your laundry list.'

'I didn't have a choice.' He bowed his head.

'Since when do you care about what the press think?' Happy gave him a sideways look.

Tony cleared his throat. 'I don't. But Pepper does, I couldn't let her be humiliated like that.'

Happy smiled, 'well, we'll work everything out as it comes then.'

'Thank you.' Tony smiled back. He leaned back against the wall; he closed his eyes and decided that proper rest would do him good. He would work on the plans with Jarvis when he woke up.

**Hope this chapter made some sort of sense, let me know what you think! Next chapter is on it's way, and shall hopefully be up soon!**


	23. Chapter 23

**So sorry it's taken me this long to update! I've been so sick with the flu, and totally overwhelmed with deadlines for some articles I've been working on for my job! But here we go, hopefully now that things are a little freed up in my life I can get back to posting faster!**

Rhodey headed downstairs, he knew Tony would be out like a light, hung over and pretty exhausted from whatever it was that was infecting him. He knew that the military would want an explanation for the events of last week. He had done well keeping them at bay for as long as he had, he ran out of cover stories for Tony. But this time he knew that they would be expecting some proof, and wouldn't take his word alone. He entered the lobby. The regular business district was alive as always, he spotted Pepper standing by the café. She looked up at him.

'Did you check on him? Is he ok?' she asked collecting her coffee to go.

'You should talk to him.' Rhodey said firmly, he led her through the lobby.

Pepper turned to look at him; she hurried her pace toward the elevator. 'Why? What's wrong, is he ok?' they stepped inside and Pepper pushed the button for Tony's private floor.

Rhodey shifted in his spot uncomfortably. Pepper glared at him. The elevator suddenly seemed overly crowded and uncomfortable.

Pepper glared at him. 'Rhodey? Is Tony ok?' She repeated.

He looked at her, he pushed the emergency stop button and the elevator came to a rough halt.

Pepper looked up at him, 'You're scaring me, what's wrong?'

'He's not going to tell you, so he left me no choice,' he cleared his throat. 'He's sick, Pepper.' He blurted.

She stepped back and leaned against the elevator wall. 'Sick? What's wrong with him?' Her heart sunk, she felt this feeling before, when she overheard Natasha tell him that his vital signs were promising and Tony responded by saying he wasn't dying _anymore._

'He's been infected by a virus, it's attacking his immune system, he's been out all night, he's stubborn and he won't let anyone help.' He explained.

Pepper moved to push the button to resume the decent their floor; Rhodey stepped in front of the buttons.

'Pepper, he was prepared to do this alone, don't let him.' He said quietly.

She looked down at her feet. 'It's my fault he doesn't talk to anyone, you know that?' she said finally.

Rhodey looked at her 'What do you mean?'

'Last time, with the palladium, he was ready to die, alone. He tried to tell me, I shut him down so many times, because I thought he was being selfish.' She turned her back to Rhodey. 'I should have picked up on it, there were so many signs; he donated our art, he spoke about legacy, his crazy birthday party, and I shut him down.' She ranted.

Rhodey walked to her and grabbed her by the shoulders. 'Stop, Pepper, stop, what are you talking about?'

She looked up at him, he didn't know, Tony never told anyone, Fury and Natasha were the only people who knew, they didn't even know him and they made it their business to know _about _him, because they needed him. He was important to them. Pepper cursed herself, she knew him for more than ten years and she should have seen it. Happy even knew, he followed Natasha to Hammer's facility to help Tony out, but nonetheless he knew and he cared.

'Two years ago, when he was sick, the palladium in the reactor was killing him, he didn't tell anyone, he tried to tell me and I told him to leave.' She sighed loudly. She had never let herself grieve for the possibility of what could have been. She felt sick to the stomach. She sighed loudly, 'he would have gone home and died, alone, and now I'm doing it to him again.' She continued.

Rhodey stepped back and leaned against the door. 'Man, I knew something was wrong.' He shook his head, 'his birthday, Monaco.' He remembered seeing Tony sitting in his hot rod, weak and depleted. He nearly fell to his knees, he, as a friend should have known something was wrong, he looked away from Pepper. He was as much to blame for not seeing it, as she was.

'Rhodey, I messed up.' Pepper said quietly, her confession barely audible.

But he heard her, 'what happened?' he asked just as quietly.

'I said some things I shouldn't have said, it's going to get out, and he'll find out, he'll be devastated.' She whispered.

'As long as you tell him what you really feel, it will work out Pepper.' He smiled at her.

'Is he going to be ok?' she asked quietly.

'I don't know, I don't really understand this stuff, it seems complicated.' Rhodey replied.

Pepper finally pushed the button, and the elevator began to ascend. 'Did Jarvis tell you?' She looked at him intently.

Rhodey shook his head, 'he tried to, but Happy wanted to get him upstairs to bed, he was out on his desk all night.'

'Oh God.' Pepper breathed.

The elevator doors opened at their floor. They met Happy sitting on the lounge watching TV.

'Hey, is he in bed?' Pepper asked Happy, before he had a chance to reply she was on her way to their room.

He looked over his shoulder to her and threw his hands in the air, 'do people just ask me questions they already know the answers to?'

Rhodey took a seat beside him, 'it's ok buddy, I'm here.'

Happy nodded. 'Well, it could be worse.'

'What do you mean? What's wrong with me?' Rhodey stammered.

'Nothing, nothing,' Happy threw up his hand defensively, 'just kidding.'

Rhodey laughed at him, they sat casually and watched TV, after all the anguish they went through, with the suffering of their friend, any escape, as simple as it was, was welcomed.

* * *

Tony lay on his back; his shallow breaths produced quiet gasps. Pepper sat beside him, she took his hand in hers. His eyes were closed, but they were moving rapidly under the lids, his lips moved ever so slightly.

She turned away from him; his pained expression broke her heart. She felt him squeeze her hand. He opened his eyes and turned to face her, she was looking down at her feet. He gently caressed her hand with his thumb; she finally mustered the courage and turned to look at him.

A sad smile crept across her face; she ran her hand through his hair.

'What's wrong?' he whispered.

She shook her head, 'what aren't you telling me, Tony?'

He turned his body to face her, 'nothing, Pep, I'm fine.'

She sighed loudly, 'you don't have to lie to me, I'm here Tony, I'm here, please, you can tell me.'

'It's nothing, serious, just a virus.' He said casually.

'_Just _a virus?' She asked.

'There's nothing to worry about, everything is ok.' He sat up to face her, 'see, I'm ok.' He smiled.

Pepper looked into his eyes, she saw the uncertainty, she saw how desperately he was trying to lie to her. She didn't blame him. 'Tony,' she began, the silence between them became toxic. She felt sick, her stomach churned, 'I can't lose you.' She whispered.

He squeezed her hand tighter, looking at her he cupped her cheek, 'you won't.' he said simply.

'You can't do this alone, you _shouldn't _do this alone.' She spoke softly, her words barely making a sound.

Tony looked away, 'Pepper, I don't want to burden anyone, and besides, when I solve this, I'll get all the credit,' he grinned at her, 'you know I love credit.'

She smiled back at him. He stayed so strong despite everything that he had been through, he still smiled and laughed. The knot in her stomach tightened, guilt overwhelmed her.

She stood up, leaving his side, 'I'll be back, I need a minute.' She smiled and excused herself.

Rhodey was nearly knocked off balance as Pepper rushed past him through the door.

He gave Tony a quizzical look, but left Pepper to herself. He took a seat at the foot of the bed, he handed Tony a glass of Chlorophyll. 'Thought you might need this, saw it on your desk last night.'

Tony took it from him, 'thanks.' He muttered, holding the glass up, 'cheers.'

Rhodey laughed softly, 'so, Pepper told me, well she told me last time when you were unwell, that you were dying?' he shifted uncomfortably in his spot.

Tony looked at him wide eyed. 'Well that's one way to bring it up.' He took a swig of chlorophyll.

'I am your friend, Tony, why didn't you tell me, or Pepper?' Rhodey looked at him intently.

Tony finally blinked and looked away, 'I don't know.' He answered truthfully. He was sick of being questioned and chastised, he was capable of making his own decisions. His anger must have been obvious because he noticed that Rhodey sighed heavily.

'I know we don't make it easy for you to talk to, but it's me, man.' Rhodey explained, trying to get through to him.

'It's not _just_ you, Rhodey, it's everyone, whatever I do, whatever mistakes I make, it's public, everyone knows.' He explained, his face hardened, 'The invincible Iron Man taken down by his own stupidity, killed by the device he _created _to save his life.' He shook his head, 'Pathetic.'

Rhodey shook his head, 'it's not pathetic, you're a _hero_, even heroes have bad days, man, but they also have friends, and believe it or not, we care about you.' He cleared his throat, 'even though you're a stubborn arse, we're still here.'

'For what, constant disappointment?' Tony challenged.

'Where is this coming from?' Rhodey looked at him sideways, 'Since when do you care about this kind of stuff?'

'Since it's something that Pepper would rather talk to Capsicle about, than me.' He spat back, he immediately regretted it.

'What are you talking about?' Rhodey questioned.

Tony got out of bed and pulled out his tablet from the bedside drawer. 'Jarvis pull up the feed Everhart brought in today.'

'Of course, sir.' Jarvis replied.

The video immediately started streaming and Rhodey watched on.

'She didn't actually say anything bad.' Rhodey said handing back the tablet.

Tony took it from him, he nodded, 'no she didn't, but she made it clear she has problems with me, and she would rather talk to _him_.' He explained. 'And the press would have a field day turning it around.'

'Wait, the press?' Rhodey stood up, 'who knows?'

'Christine Everhart, but that's taken care of.' Tony explained.

Rhodey gave him a concerned look. 'Have you spoken to Pepper? What do you mean it's taken care of?'

Tony snorted, 'don't worry; I didn't kill her, if that's what you're asking.' He fiddled with the tablet before replacing it in the drawer; he cleared his throat and walked over to the window.

'Well, that's a relief.' Rhodey muttered sarcastically. 'So what _did_ you do?'

'Doesn't matter, it's taken care of, Pepper can never know, ok.' Tony dodged the question.

'Why haven't you spoken to her?' Rhodey walked over to the window to stand beside Tony.

The large room housed many luxuries; Tony never indulged in any of them. He always found himself standing by the window; looking out over the city and the sky, where he felt the most comfortable, the most secure, at home and alive.

'I just-' he began, he rubbed his face, he felt the confusion and sadness wash over him and run through every vein and every pore, he leaned against the glass, feeling the cold beneath his palms, 'I don't know, I can't.'

Rhodey put his hand on Tony's shoulder, 'you can, you can talk to any of us, what are afraid of?'

Tony shrugged away Rhodey's hand, he walked back to the bed; he sat down, 'because I don't think talking would solve anything, I've done what I needed to, to protect her. That's' that.' He said definitively.

'So you're not going to talk to her?' Rhodey confirmed.

Tony looked up, 'that's what I said, she doesn't need to know, she doesn't need to be involved.'

'Did this involve extortion, or something illegal, Tony?' Rhodey tried to understand him.

'Something like that.' He replied.

Rhodey stood in front of him, he looked down at his friend, 'and this virus?'

'The virus is destroying me, there's nothing that I can do.' He looked at Rhodey.

'So that's it, you're giving up?' he sat down beside him.

Tony looked down at his hands, 'I'm tired, Rhodey, I'm tired of being a disappointment, I'm tired of trying to do the right thing and being ridiculed, I'm tired-' he looked up at the ceiling, 'I'm just tired.' He looked over at Rhodey.

'No, Tony, I'm not letting you give up, not a chance.' Rhodey stood up and paced in front of him.

'It's not up to you.' Tony stood up and walked passed him.

'Where are you going?' Rhodey called after him.

'To clear my head.' Tony shouted back.

Rhodey followed him out to the main room where Pepper and Happy stood looking at Tony leaving. He took off without a word, without a goodbye or even a look.

Rhodey knew this was serious, he'd never known Tony Stark to give up on anything in his life, even Jarvis offered no solutions. Tony was alone and he was afraid. But he would never admit that to anyone.

'I'll find him, I'll bring him back, don't worry.' Rhodey breathed as he took off toward the elevator, after Tony.

**And as always thank you all for your reviews! I always get so giddy and excited to check the comments in the morning! It's my ritual when I catch the train to work every morning! So keep them coming, they trully bring a smile to my face, on an usually gloomy, winter morning!**

**Hope you all enjoy this chapter, let me know what you think :)**


	24. Chapter 24

**Thank you all so so much for your amazing reviews, they trully put the biggest smile on my face! **

**So this chapter, and this story from here on in, is based on my favourite Iron Man comic, lets see how many people recognise it :)**

'Sir, a news report is coming in; you may be interested in this.' Jarvis announced in Tony's HUD as he flew over the New York skyline.

'Put it through, Jarvis.' Tony answered.

He weaved between buildings, breathing in the exhilaration of the flight. He left behind the thoughts of his concerned friends, and Pepper. He didn't want to think about it, he didn't want to do anything about it, most of all he finally admitted to himself; he didn't want to accept it.

_Reports just coming in from Bastrop, Texas; a man with superhuman strength is thought to have been involved in a series of slaughterhouse murders. It is speculated that the man was injected with some kind of serum which has amplified his strength. The men fleeing the scene, thought to have helped this man, have been identified as ex-employees of a well-known pharmaceutical company, __Futurepharm__. No more is known at this stage, except that the individual is extremely dangerous and no one should attempt to approach him. Authorities have established a country wide search for this individual, anyone with any information is urged to come forward to aid police with their investigation._

'Sounds like my kind of guy.' Tony muttered. 'Try to locate him Jarvis, lock into; street, shop, cell phone cameras, from his last known location, whatever you have to do.'

'Very well, sir, incoming call from Director Fury.' Jarvis announced.

Tony began his course toward Texas. 'Put him through, what can I do for you on this fine evening, Nick?' Tony mocked.

'Stark you are not authorised to intervene in this investigation.' He said firmly.

Tony laughed, 'and since when do _I _follow authority?' Tony asked sarcastically.

'I'm serious Tony, this is not something you are equipped to deal with, wait for your team.' Fury advised.

'My team?' Tony snorted, 'no, that's _your_ team, Fury, not mine.' He spat back.

Fury wasn't giving up. 'Tony whatever childish quarrel you've got going on, this isn't the time for it.'

'You're right, we'll hash it out when I get back, I've got work to do.' He disconnected the call. 'Jarvis, monitor any incoming signals, we've got to keep S.H.I.E.L.D off our scent, got it?'

'Of course sir, might I suggest the less scenic route to Texas if you intend on keeping out of sight?' Jarvis offered.

Tony laughed, 'good thinking, what would I do without you?'

'Would you like me to go through the scenarios?' Jarvis began.

'No, Jarvis that was rhetorical. Just monitor the signals.' Tony sighed.

'Very well sir.'

* * *

A dark, barren alleyway paid tribute to the Texas street life, a flickering light was the only source of illumination. A cowering figure sat hunched in a corner against a brick wall, shivering against a dilapidated fence. The grunting and moaning sounds which the figure produced were blood curdling. The screeches of its fingernails against the concrete were enough to send a swarm of pigeons into chaotic panic. They scattered above them causing a loud commotion until they were all gone, save for the excess of white feathers which fell to the earth like dark snowflakes.

'What the hell is wrong with him?' a voice broke through the silent night, 'this wasn't meant to happen.'

The other man stepped closer to the cowering figure, 'the dose must have been wrong.'

'The hell it was, the doctor had the dose ready to go, she said so herself.'

The second man stood cautiously looking toward the figure, 'Jason, we have to get out of here, they've seen our faces they know who we are.'

'Where are we going to go? Mexico?' The man identified as Jason spat back sarcastically.

'I don't know, anywhere, we can't be seen here.' He pulled Jason by the arm, 'come on, I've got to make a phone call.'

They left the alleyway behind, they rushed down the deserted streets, and broke their way into a small grocery story, the first man pulled out a pocket knife, he wedged it under the counter and the cash register came out.

'You're seriously robbing the place?' Jason asked disbelievingly.

'No, you idiot, I'm making a phone call, we need change.' He held out a handful of quarters.

Jason nodded; they hurried over to a payphone in the back end of the store. 'Keep an eye out.' The man instructed.

Jason took up post by the window, hidden by the shadows cast only by the dim streetlights.

'Hello? This is David, Jason and I are in trouble, I need to speak with Doctor Hansen.' David whispered. 'What do you mean she can't talk to me? Where is she?' He grew impatient. 'Shit.' He slammed the receiver down.

He made his way to Jason, 'Maya's out, she refuses to be associated with us, we're on our own.' He explained.

They stood silently deliberating their next move. After a few moments David grabbed a shopping basket from the ground and started filling it with food. Jason followed suit. If they were on their own, they needed to start somewhere. And what better way than to stock up on food.

* * *

'Natasha, Clint, I need surveillance of the last known location, Stark's on his way there now.' Fury explained. He held up the streaming footage of the man destroying the slaughterhouse.

Clint and Natasha looked at each other, 'Sir?'

'As of this moment, Stark isn't part of this team, he's rogue, do what you can to apprehend this guy then bring Stark in.' He left them with his orders and took off.

'What the hell is going on, call Stark.' Natasha ordered as she and Clint took off toward the waiting plane.

'He's not answering, he's disabled all communications.' Clint explained.

'Of course he did, call Banner; we need the team here now. We're not doing this alone.' She muttered. 'Tell them to meet us there, we'll debrief in an hour.'

Clint nodded, he made the calls and set up the meeting, they were hunting a criminal who was much more powerful than anyone had seen, and to make things worse, they were hunting down Iron Man.

* * *

'Pepper come here, you need to see this, hurry.' Happy called out to her, Rhodey joined them in the main living area.

Thor, Bruce and Steve had left only hours earlier on a 'secret' mission, no one mentioned anything to any of them, but Jarvis never let them down.

'What is it?' She rushed over to the couch, Happy was sitting in front of the TV, Jarvis was monitoring Tony and The Avengers, just as Tony had programmed him to, a failsafe, he called it. Pepper knew he just didn't trust them completely, but it was a good thing, because without all of his precautions, so many bad situations could have ended up much worse.

'Jarvis has been monitoring the news, anything that could tell us where Tony is, this came up.' Happy pulled up the footage of a super human man destroying a slaughterhouse and leaving a bloody trail behind.

Pepper gasped, 'is Tony there?'

'I don't know, Jarvis' location on Tony has been disabled, but The Avengers are heading there now.' Happy explained.

Rhodey took a seat beside them, 'Why isn't Tony with _them_?'

Pepper looked at Happy waiting for an answer, he threw his hands up defensively, 'whoa, I don't know everything, just what Jarvis tells me.'

Rhodey stood up and made a phone call, 'Director Fury, this is Colonel Rhodes, requesting to know the status of The Avengers.' He paced back and forth, 'what do you mean that's classified? Do you know who you're talking to?'

Pepper and Happy shot each other shocked looks; they'd never seen him speak this way to anyone.

'This _is _need to know, I _need_ to know what's going on with my friend, have you seen the news reports? If he's gone in there alone, yes I know he can't handle it on his-' he scratched his head, 'that's _why_ he needs the team, what do you mean he's not part of the team anymore?' his voice grew increasingly louder as he became more irritated.

He finally disconnected the call, the shouting matched proved fruitful. They had their answers.

'They've revoked his position on The Avengers, he going in alone.' His jaw hardened.

'He's being reckless again.' Pepper breathed, 'They don't know, do they?'

Happy shook his head, 'he barely told _us, _Pepper, he would never discuss that with them.'

'This is bad.' Rhodey added, 'we have to find him, he can't go in there alone, did you see what that thing did to the slaughterhouse? ' Rhodey stood in front of the window looking out at the dark sky, 'that was fortified steel, Tony's suit stands no chance.'

The air grew thick, they sat in silence, listening only to the sound of each other's worried breaths.


	25. Chapter 25

**So my last chapter didn't sit well with some people, I apologise if some of the story seemed stupid, I hope I did well by you this time around, I can only hope to improve as I go, I'm really happy with how this turned out. Please let me know how you guys found this!**

'Has Stark seen that thing down there?' Steve spat, 'he can't take that alone, even the Hulk wouldn't take that alone.'

Bruce nodded 'You know Stark's never been one to sit and think things through.'

Natasha put the jet in autopilot, she turned to look at the team, 'Fury wants us to bring him in.' she said flatly.

Thor looked at her, then at Clint, 'what do _you _want us to do?'

'He needs our help; we stick together and do this as a team.' Clint interjected.

'Agreed.' Bruce added.

'Ok, agreed.' Natasha turned back to the console.

Tony

* * *

landed in a small abandoned street, newspapers and litter alike scattered the street, runaway cats made do with leftovers from whichever trash cans they could make their way into. The whole city resembled a scene from an apocalypse movie.

He walked around taking in the sight, allowing Jarvis the time to scan every area possible. He was reckless, but he wasn't stupid. He knew what damage the creature could do and despite what it looked like, he wasn't on a suicide mission.

He looked around, the flickering of the dimming streetlights created an eerie atmosphere, he wasn't a superstitious man, but he felt uneasy. Thoughts of ghosts and monsters replayed over and over in his head, he shook them away. He thanked whatever higher power was out there, that he was safe in his suit. He made his way toward a small alleyway which Jarvis highlighted as having been a known location of the creature.

'Sir, it appears to have moved on.' Jarvis announced.

'Duly noted, Jarvis, thanks.' He muttered back. 'Where is it now?'

The HUD lit up, scanning Tony's surrounds.

'It appears there is a large mass moving three blocks from here.' Jarvis announced.

Tony nodded, he took off toward the large mass. 'Jarvis, call Pepper.'

'Oh my God, Tony, where are you?' Her panicked voice filled his suit immediately.

'Pepper, I need you to listen to me.' He said sternly.

'Tony, what are you doing, where are you-' Pepper ranted on and on.

Tony interrupted her, 'Pepper, stop.' He yelled.

He heard the small gasp on the other end.

'Please, I need you to listen.' He said quietly.

Pepper's soft voice answered. 'Tony what's wrong?'

'There's something you need to do for me,' he could hear the worried breaths on the other end of the line as he spoke, 'there's a box in my workshop, there's a lockchip I need you to get, I use it when I approve any changes in the company, there's a file with pending shareholders in it, I need you to approve it.'

'Tony, you're going up against this dangerous thing, and you're going alone and you're dying and you call me to approve a share arrangement?' Peppers voice broke.

'It's important.' He said simply.

'Why is it so important?' she questioned him. Her wavering voice failed her.

'Because it's for you, Pep, trust me, please.' He begged.

'Why are you being so cryptic? Tony please don't lie to me anymore, just come home.' She pleaded with him.

'You know I can't do that, not yet, call me when you get into the system, I'll need to walk you through it.' He disconnected the call.

He sighed; he knew she would want answers when she saw the name on the file, he had at least ten minutes to gather his thoughts before she called back, he needed to find this thing, he needed to stop it. It had already claimed several lives, and destroyed several buildings. He landed a few feet away from a large, unused shed.

He walked around scanning the building; the infrared scans showed the creature inside, he was raging against a concrete wall, not too different to how he'd seen the Hulk behave, he knew this was different though. It still looked human, but there seemed to be no soul, no humanity left inside it.

He stepped away and hid himself behind a wall, he dialled Pepper again, there was no time to wait.

'I was just going to call you.' She breathed, 'I'm logged in, how do I do this?'

'Ok, you need to view the shareholder list, there's a folder with pending prospects, in there you'll find-'

'Christine Everhart?' Pepper gasped.

'Yes, approve it.' Tony instructed.

'Tony, I'm not approving five percent of your shares to that woman.' Pepper argued.

'I don't have time for this, Pepper, just do it.' He became impatient, but his voice remained level.

Pepper raised her voice, 'no, Tony, no way, I don't know what you think you're doing, but you're not thinking straight.'

'My company, my shares, do it.' He spat.

'Tony, what's going on? Is something going on with her?' Pepper was yelling at him now.

He felt himself supress a laugh, 'that's actually really funny,' he began, 'it's quite disappointing that you would think, let alone even ask me something like that.'

'Then what, Tony?' Pepper yelled back, 'you have a desire for self-destruction, you want to take yourself out so you take the company down with you, you want to see everyone suf-'

'She has footage of you with Steve!' Tony finally yelled.

The line went silent, 'Tony.' Pepper finally breathed.

'Just approve the shares, I'll talk to you when I get back, I love you.' He still managed despite the anger in his body. He disconnected the call. He slammed his iron fist into the wall; he noticed the creature focus its attention in his direction. The infrared display indicated it moving toward him, fast.

'Jarvis, here we go.' Tony muttered, he ignited the thrusters and prepared himself, he hovered above ground, only moments later the creature slammed through the brick wall. Tony flew backwards to avoid the flying debris.

Tony couldn't believe what he was seeing, it looked like a man, 'whoa, what are you?' he was half impressed. He was like the Captain, on steroids, and turbo charged.

'They call me Mallen.' He grunted.

'Well, Mallen, it's been a brief, weird kind of pleasure, but I'm going to have to take you in now, I'm sure you can understand.' Tony quipped.

Mallen smirked at him, 'I don't think so.' He picked up a pipe which dislodged itself from the wall, he took a swing at Tony.

Tony flew out of the way, but didn't fully dodge the pipe, it clipped his foot, he was thrown off balance but managed to stay in the air. Mallen took another swing at him, this time Tony shot him straight in the chest with his hand repulsor, Mallen stammered backwards and fell into a heap of rubble. He stood up, smirking even more, he ran toward Tony, pipe in hand, Tony shot at him multiple times, he deflected each shot, Tony turned away from him and flew a few feet away, he noticed Mallen's attention was drawn to the jet, landing a few yards away.

'Great, see what you've gone and done, now we're both in trouble.' Tony yelled toward Mallen.

He took off, higher into the sky, 'Romanov, you need to get out of here.'

'Sorry, Stark, can't do that.' She replied.

'I know you have your orders to bring me in, but this is not a good time, this guy is dangerous, get out of here.' Tony tried to explain.

He was distracted and missed the large chunk of concrete which was hurled at him, it hit him in the chest, knocking him to the ground, the thrusters failed to ignite, he landed in a pile of shrubs.

'Seriously, get out of here.' Tony grunted.

He got to his knees looking around, he spotted Mallen making his way toward the jet.

'Mallen, over here.' He shouted. He fired at him to get his attention.

He turned to face the grounded Iron Man; he changed his course and headed toward him, in the distance he saw the jet take off, 'now they listen to me.' He muttered.

'Jarvis, reroute all power to the palm repulsors.' Tony stammered.

'Done, Sir.' Jarvis answered.

Mallen had reached him, he took a swing of the pole again, Tony shot at hit, Mallen dodged the shots and swung the pole at him again, this time Tony caught it, he fought against him, his strength was unlike anything Tony had ever felt, he was getting pushed down to his knees.

'Tony, Hulk is coming in.' Clint yelled over the coms.

Tony's ears were ringing, 'No, no one else has to be in this mess, just leave.' Tony yelled through gritted teeth.

'Jarvis, reroute to chest piece.' He yelled. With that he blasted Mallen away from him, he fell to his knees, exhausted. Mallen ran at him and pummelled him to the ground, Tony managed to get out from under him and back to his feet, Mallen was in front of him almost instantly trying to pierce Tony with the pole he had grown so fond of, Tony was trying to hold him off. The jet hovered above them.

'Stark, Hulk is on his way.' Steve informed.

'I said no!' he yelled as he continued his battle with Mallen.

'He's already on his way, hang in there.' Steve replied.

Tony noticed a faint hint of panic in his voice, did this look worse than what it was, he felt his arm weakening, he was getting pushed further and further down to the ground, his knee buckled beneath him, 'hurry.' He managed, he felt blood pool with his saliva, he must have been biting down on his tongue.

Sharp breaths escaped Tony's lips, he fought against the pain, the strength this man possessed was unbelievable, he gritted his teeth, 'Jarvis, whatever's left, chest piece!' he yelled.

As Tony fired the repulsor Mallen gripped Tony's arm, the blast hit Mallen but his grip tightened on his arm, crushing it beneath his fingers.

Tony screamed in pain, his voice echoed through his suit, Mallen took advantage of his opponents weakness and pushed him to the ground. He slammed his fist into Tony's chest, his gargling screams echoed throughout the com system. He tossed Tony around from side to side like a rag doll, he slammed him into the ground, and continued to slam his fist into Tony's chest.

'Tony, hold on, we're coming.' Clint yelled.

The Hulk finally reached Mallen, with a swift smash, Mallen was knocked away from Tony, the Hulk and Mallen smashed each other, until Mallen broke free and took off running. Natasha started shooting in his direction; bullets bounced off him, and did absolutely no damage.

Natasha landed the jet, she and Clint ran down to Tony and Hulk, Thor and Steve tried to chase down Mallen to no avail, Hulk had allowed Bruce to come back to aid his friends.

'Oh God, Tony, don't move, get Fury on the line, this is bad.' Natasha yelled out.

'Fury, Mallan's gone, Tony's down, we need paramedics now!' Clint yelled into the receiver.

Tony lay mangled on the ground, his face was hidden by the visor, but they could hear the muffled yells within.

Thor leaned down and pulled the visor off, a bloody face looked up at him, gargled yells escaped his lips.

'We can't move him, we don't know how much damage is done, we could really use full body scans.' Bruce tried to work out the best way to get him back to base.

'Jarvis can remotely scan him, he's still in the suit, but we'll need to call Pepper, she'll need to remotely access that function.' Steve advised.

'Do it, we don't have time to sugar coat this for her.' Natasha nodded.

Bruce knelt beside Tony, 'Tony, stay with us, we're getting you out of here, but we can't move you yet.'

'My arm, god, I can't move, why can't I move.' Tony muttered, his voice cracked, tears streamed down the side of his face.

'Pepper, we need your help, don't have time to explain, run remote body scan from home, hurry.'

They knelt beside Tony, Natasha pulled the glove off his good arm, she held onto his hand, he squeezed hers weakly. Clint held the phone out on loudspeaker.

'Ok, Jarvis is running it, what's going on? Where's Tony?' Peppers voice was full of worry.

Jarvis' voice came through the loudspeaker, 'Full body scan is complete, both lungs collapsed, third, fourth and fifth vertebrae fractured, internal haemorrhage, crushed right tibia and fibula and all digits.

'Oh my god, Tony, what happened, Tony, no, please no.' Pepper screamed.

'We're bringing him home, Pepper.' Clint disconnected the call.

'Jesus, we need to get him out of here, where's Fury?' Natasha caressed Tony's hand in hers. He shook violently, 'we don't have much time.' She breathed.

Tony closed his eyes, unconsciousness took over.

Steve waved over the med team as they landed with Fury, he helped them lift Tony, suit and all into the helicopter.

As they made their way back to New York, Natasha called Pepper to make arrangements for Tony's care. The dread in her voice was evident.

Hours had passed, dozens of doctors came and went, Pepper stood against the wall of the hospital room, she never took her eyes off Tony,

'I'm so sorry, there's nothing we can do, the damage is irreparable.' The doctor gave Pepper and the team the bad news, Tony Stark, the man who knew no bounds, who knew only passion and excitement, driven by adrenaline, lived for life, was crippled, within his own body, stuck in a life which would hold him back forever.

Pepper cried and cried, not for their life, or for the change, but for the pain which she knew Tony would be in for. He wouldn't want to have survived this, if this is what was waiting for him.

**Hope you guys enjoyed! Let me know :)**


	26. Chapter 26

**Ok...so perhaps 'enjoying' the last chapter wasn't the right word to use LOL, but I hope it entertained you at least! So here we go, lets see what we've got planned for Tony!**

'He's not letting anyone in to see him, I'm sorry.' The middle aged surgeon spoke quietly.

Pepper looked down at her feet, 'he'll see _me_, please.' She whispered.

'He asked not to see _anyone, _Miss Potts, especially you.'

She looked up at him, confusion swept over her; she looked to Steve and Bruce for answers which neither could give. Steve finally stepped up to her, 'just give him some time.'

Pepper pushed him away, 'I, I can't be here.' She rushed past Clint and Natasha who were waiting in the foyer, Thor and Fury walked after her.

'Pepper, wait, stop.' Fury reached her as she got into the waiting car. He put a hand on the bonnet to stop Happy driving away, 'Pepper.'

She wound down her window. 'There's nothing you can say, Director, move out of the way, please.'

'He just needs time, we all do.' He walked over to her.

Pepper let out a sharp, sarcastic laugh, 'no, what he _needed_ was his team, and _you_ failed him.'

Pepper raised her window and motioned for Happy to drive, he turned on the car, and pulled out of the hospital.

* * *

Tony felt his heart beating in his chest, the quiet thuds pulsed through his mind, he felt everything, but nothing at all. He couldn't move, he couldn't cry, he couldn't yell. He sighed loudly. He kept his eyes closed, the warmth of the sun on his face through the window was soothing, but the darkness in which he found himself in was overpowering. His arm lay twisted in a cast, the pain numbed by the vast array of pain killers which he was fed intravenously. He heard the door crack open, he didn't bother opening his eyes, he owed no one any niceties.

'I thought I said I didn't want any visitors.' He muttered.

The door closed quietly, but he still heard the quiet footsteps make their way toward him.

'I know, but I need your help, Tony.' The female voice spoke quietly.

Curiosity replaced his frustration; he opened his eyes and turned to face her, 'Maya?' he breathed.

She smiled softly, 'Tony.'

She stood beside him, looking at the man before her; her dark hair framed her face. Her petite frame was dressed elegantly in a grey suit and a lab coat, she pulled a chair closer to his bed and sat down, she placed the folders which she was carrying beside him.

'Well, this is unexpected.' He smiled weakly.

'I know that you're in no mood, but this is important, forgive me for being so abrupt.' She took the folders and started flipping through the documents.

'I don't know what you think I can help you with, but as you can see I'm not going to be helping anyone,' he paused, 'ever.'

She looked at him briefly, then turned back to her files. 'I need you to look this over, we don't have much time.' She handed some papers.

'Extremis?' Tony raised an eyebrow at her, 'you actually continued working on this?'

'After MIT, I took on few side projects, Futurepharm funded most of it, but _this_, this was something they wanted me to work on above anything else.' She explained.

Tony read the files, occasionally snorting at the equations on the page; he finally put the files down and looked at her, 'who looked over these in the first place?'

'Aldrich, he committed suicide last week.' She said quietly, looking Tony in the eyes.

'I'm so sorry, Maya.' He looked back to the equations, 'do you have a pen?'

She rummaged through her purse, she handed him a gold plated pen.

He looked at it; he smiled to himself as he made notes on the paper, 'kept my pen, huh?' he said without looking up.

'I kept a lot of your things, Tony Stark.' She said softly.

He looked up at her and saw her shy smile, she was blushing, he handed her back the files.

'The algorithm was wrong, the serum would only infect the host and affect the neural waves, not the physical state as it was meant to, I think.' He pointed to the notes he made above the equation, he handed back the pen, 'that should fix it, theoretically.'

'Theoretically, this will work?' She nodded.

Tony looked at her sideways, 'it's _only _going to work theoretically, this kind of serum is dangerous, and unstable, even with the correct algorithm the risks are, astronomical, at best.'

She looked at him intently, 'I know, that's why I needed you to fix this.'

'Fix what, Maya, it's just a theory,' he stopped then looked at her, 'only it isn't _is_ it? It's real and you've used it on someone.'

Maya didn't break eye contact; she looked at him, willing him to understand without her having to say the words.

'Mallen, _Mallen_ is a result of this?' He shook his head; he snatched the files from her, to look over the notes again.

'Tony, I'm sorry.' She finally breathed, taking the papers from him.

'Do you have any idea how bad this is, Maya, he's killed people, what were you thinking?' he chastised her.

She nodded, 'I know, it was stolen from our facility, Aldrich tried to stop them, when he saw what Mallen had become, he took his own life.'

Tony shook his head, 'I don't believe this.' He ran his hand through his hair.

'Tony please, only you can help me with this, you were always the smarter one, always.' She took his hand into hers.

He pulled away from her, 'I'll help, because of what this thing did, not to alleviate your guilt.'

'That's fine, I don't expect any forgiveness from you Tony, this is something that can never be undone, I know that, but we need to stop him from doing any more damage.' She stood up, taking her files.

'Leave the files, I need them.' He said sternly.

She nodded, she walked back toward him and handed him the files, 'thank you.' She said quietly, she bent down and kissed him on the forehead.

He looked away from her, once he heard the door close he exhaled deeply, 'what have you done, Maya?' he whispered to himself, looking down at the papers in his hand.

* * *

'How is he?' Rhodey asked taking a seat next to Pepper, he handed her a drink, she gulped the liquor down in one shot.

'He's absolutely devastated, won't let anyone in.' She replied, gently placing the glass on the coffee table before her, she folded her hands in her lap.

'He needs time.' Rhodey nodded. He placed his glass down beside hers.

'It's been two days, this isn't healthy.' She sighed.

Rhodey leaned forward, he rested his head in his hands, 'this will never get _healthy _for Tony, some people can push through this kind of thing, some write books, and make movies and inspire others, Tony isn't one of those people, he'll never get over this, you have to be prepared for that reality Pepper.' He spoke quietly, but truthfully. 'Tony's gone; the man that's left is a broken shell.'

Pepper leaned her elbow against the arm rest, she leaned her face into her hand. Without warning she felt her own sobs becomes tears, she felt Rhodey's arm around her, she didn't look up at him, but she could feel his body shake with sobs too.

Happy knocked on the door and announced his arrival, Pepper looked up at him through tear stained eyes, she couldn't see clearly, but she could see the redness in Happy's eyes.

He sat on the other side of Pepper, she clutched his hand, he pulled her into him, she buried her face in his chest and he stroked her hair. 'I know,' he whispered. 'I know.' He tried to soothe her, but his own broken voice was strained.

Rhodey, Happy and Pepper sat silently holding on to each other, fearing the life would simply slip away if they didn't hold on tight enough. The quiet sobs filled the room; the air became heavy with dread and sorrow, mourning for the loss of their best friend. Pepper dared her mind to think, would it have been better if he had just died?

* * *

'Mr Stark, you have a visitor.' The doctor said in a quiet voice.

Tony looked absently outside the window, the doctor gently squeezed Tony's shoulder, 'son, would you like me to let them in?'

Tony finally turned his head to face the doctor, 'no.' He said just as quietly, and turned back to the window.

The doctor sighed. 'Mr Stark, I can appreciate that this is difficult for you, but you need to start your rehabilitation, and that includes seeing your friends.'

'Thanks doc. But I'm fine like this for now, can you pass me that folder please.' Tony pointed to the table. He pushed a button which elevated his bed and raised him to a sitting position. He took the file from the doctor and looked down at his work. He retrieved the tablet from the bedside shelf. He started to work.

'Ok, you're going to need to emerge for air eventually, let me know when you're ready.' The doctor nodded and left Tony to his work.

As the door closed, Tony pulled out his cell phone, 'Maya, I've finished it, bring me what you have.'

* * *

'What do you mean he's not here?' Pepper raised her voice to match the man who was trying to calm her down. 'Don't you touch me, where the hell is Tony, who authorised the transfer?'

Happy and Rhodey looked equally as frustrated, but they stood their ground.

'He did.' A voice beamed over all of them. The doctor held out his hand, Pepper shook it, 'Doctor Robins.'

She recognised him from when they first brought Tony in. 'Where is this facility?'

'I'm not sure, the doctor who signed him out only gave me a note, for when you came.' He pulled out a small envelope and handed it to Pepper.

'Thank you.' She said softly without looking at the doctor. Rhodey and Happy walked her out.

They made their way to the car, where Pepper sat and read the note to herself, Rhodey's eyes never left her, he was the first to notice the faint smile cross her lips.

'What is it, everything ok?' he asked quietly.

'I think it will be.' She finally said, she folded the note and put it in her purse. 'Take me home Happy.'

* * *

'You are crazy; you can't possibly be serious about doing this.' Maya paced back and forth.

'You asked for my help, don't back out now.' Tony muttered prepping the serum.

'No, Tony, this _isn't_ the kind of help I wanted from you; you saw what that serum did to Mallen.' She tried to reason with him.

He grinned at her, 'don't worry about it, _I_ worked on this, it'll be fine.'

'I don't know Tony; I don't feel right about this.' Maya rubbed her face with her hand; she stood looking at him with one hand on her hip.

'Don't look at me like that, Maya, you know this will work, I need you to do it.' Tony held out the vile, 'please.'

She took it from him, 'Tony, if anything goes wrong.'

'It won't.' He said simply.

Maya signed loudly, 'have you told your girlfriend?'

Tony shook his head, 'not yet, but she's on her way, I will tell her, and then we'll do this.'

'Ok, alright.' She nodded. 'You need to eat, before, you'll be unconscious for a few days, your body will need sustenance.'

Tony ate a burger which Maya brought him, and she finalised her preparations. A young girl, Maya's assistant, Tony guessed, walked in and whispered something to her. Maya nodded and the girl left.

'Miss Potts is here.' Maya announced to Tony.

'I won't be long.' Tony assured her.

Maya took her leave and held the door open for Pepper.

Tony's face lit up in the familiar smile Pepper recognised, her heart melted, she rushed over to his side and threw her arms around his neck. She buried her face in the nape of his neck. Tony ran his fingers through her hair, kissing the top of her head.

'I love you so much, Tony.' she breathed into his chest.

'I love you, Pepper, always.' He whispered back.

She pulled away from him, her eyes pooled with tears, Tony wiped her tears away, offering a weak smile.

'Tony, what are you doing here, I don't understand your note.' She sat beside him.

'After today, everything's going to be different, but it will be better.' He smiled at her.

She nodded, 'but what does it mean?'

'I've figured something out which will fix this.' He nodded to his legs.

Pepper shook her head, 'Tony, what are you talking about?'

'I just need you to trust me.' he held her hand. 'Do you trust me, Pep?'

She nodded, 'of course I do, but Tony-'

'Please, Pepper, I _need_ you behind me on this.' He pleaded with her.

She clutched his hand, 'I am, Tony, whatever you need, I want you to be happy again.'

'I will be, I promise.' He smiled at her.

'Ok, do what you have to do, I'll be here.' She pressed her lips to his.

He cupped her cheek, 'thank you.' He whispered.

Maya walked in, and gestured for Pepper to leave them.

'I'll let you know when we're done.' She informed her as she closed the door to the room.

* * *

Pepper sat in the lobby with Rhodey and Happy, 'She'll let us know when we can see him.'

'What are they doing?' Happy asked quizzically.

'I didn't ask,' she cleared her throat. 'He asked me to trust him.' Pepper replied taking a sip of the coffee which Rhodey bought her.

'I hope he knows what he's doing.' Rhodey added.

'He does.' Pepper nodded. 'I know he does.'

**Oh boy, it's getting exciting for me now! Let me know how you foudn this chapter and how you think it's all coming along!**


	27. Chapter 27

**I am really excited about this chapter! It's all coming together quite nicely, I also feel that there may be quite a bit to come, so I hope you're all still with me on this journey :)**

'Do you want to see him before we do this?' Maya stood at the door, speaking to Pepper.

Pepper nodded and followed her. She took a seat beside Tony, and took his hand into hers. They looked into each other's eyes, she was afraid if she blinked she would never see his face again. Pepper only noticed a minor flinch on Tony's face as Maya injected him with the serum. The passion in his eyes remained until his last waking moment. She held onto that thought and image, praying that whatever Tony was doing, would work. She felt selfish, but wanting him back was more than just her own desire to have him hold her, and dance with her, she wanted him to be happy. Watching the light slip away from his eyes terrified her, she didn't know if he would come back to her, or if when he did, nothing will have changed. Panic rose in her chest, her mind betrayed her with thoughts of logic, and thoughts of failure. She pushed them aside, she couldn't afford to be negative, Tony was relying on her.

As soon as Tony's eyes closed and Pepper was sure he was unconscious she allowed herself to break down. Maya, removed the syringe and discretely left the room, leaving Pepper with her thoughts.

Pepper sobbed into her hand, still holding onto Tony's with the other. 'I don't know if you can hear me, Tony, but _I_ believe this will work, and I need you to come back to me when you're ready.' She spoke softly. She leaned in and kissed his lips, 'I love you so much, you have to come back to me.'

She collected her thoughts and left the room.

Maya nodded as she passed Pepper on her way out, 'he'll be out for at least forty eight hours, you're all welcome to stay at the facility.' She looked to Rhodey, Pepper and Happy.

'Thank you.' Pepper nodded taking a seat.

Maya walked over to Tony, she inserted an IV drip into his arm, and began monitoring his vitals. The machines began to beep systematically as Maya applied the oxygen mask to his mouth.

'Tony, if you can hear me, you shouldn't feel any pain as your body repairs, but you will feel a strange sensation,' she pressed some more buttons on the machines and looked back at Tony, 'unless we've done something wrong, then _that_ could be a different story.' She muttered.

'Pepper and your friends are just outside, I'll be monitoring your vitals, we'll all be here when you wake up.' She said quietly, she touched his forehead affectionately, 'you've got to pull through this, you're the only one who can do it.'

She left him to go and find Pepper, she knew Tony didn't tell her anything about the procedure, but she had to.

'Miss Potts, may I talk to you please.' Maya stood before them.

'Of course, is something wrong, is Tony ok?' She started rambling.

'Tony's fine, everything is ok, I just wanted to explain some things to you.' She gestured for Pepper to follow her. 'We'll go to my office.'

Pepper and Maya sat opposite each other, separated by a large mahogany desk. She could tell that this woman had extravagant taste; she could see why she and Tony were friends, or perhaps more in the past. She noticed the small framed photos which lined her desk, most were of her in her younger years, some she noticed were with Tony and some other people whom she didn't recognise, all dressed in MIT jerseys. She absentmindedly smiled to herself seeing the young Tony Stark smile back at her.

'Miss Potts, did Tony explain this to you?' Maya began.

'Please, Pepper,' she cleared her throat, 'and no he didn't, he and I have, well an "unspoken trust" kind of deal going on.' She smiled weakly.

'Of course,' Maya nodded, 'Pepper, I feel that I should tell you, the effects of this serum are unknown to me, Tony worked on this, whatever we've gone ahead with is solely Tony's creation.'

'I know,' Pepper looked intently at the woman, 'do _you _think this will work?'

'Honestly?' Maya looked back at her.

Pepper nodded. 'Please.'

'_Honestly_, if anyone can make this work, it's Tony.' Maya evaded the question.

Pepper looked around at the room, 'how well do you know Tony?' Pepper took a different angle.

Maya sighed, 'well enough to know that he's never wrong.'

'That's true.' Pepper paused, 'thank you, for doing this.'

Maya shook her head. 'Don't thank me, he wanted to do this, if anything goes wrong-'

'-it won't, you said so yourself, Tony's never wrong.' Pepper interjected.

Maya laughed nervously, 'you sound just like him.'

'We've spent a lot of time together.' Pepper offered.

'That I know.' Maya replied, a weak smile played across her lips. 'Look, the reason I called you in here was to make sure that you're in this with him, one hundred percent. '

Pepper looked at her quizzically. 'Of course I am.' She replied matter of factly.

'I know you think you are, but if _anything _goes wrong, I need to know, as his doctor, that you are prepared for whatever happens, good _or_ bad.' Maya explained. 'He's going to need a lot of support whichever way this goes.'

Pepper crossed her arms defensively, 'look, I understand you're just doing your job, but I have and always will be by Tony's side, despite what condition he may or may not be in.'

'That's all I needed to hear, I'll keep you posted.' Maya stood up and motioned for Pepper to follow her, 'please stay close by; he'll want to see you when he wakes up.'

'Thanks.' Pepper nodded and made her way back to Happy and Rhodey.

'Everything ok?' Rhodey stood up as Pepper reached him, looking slightly flustered.

'Yeah, I guess.' Pepper questioned herself.

'What did she say?' Happy quizzed her.

'Basically that whatever they've done in there is solely Tony's creation and she wanted me to know that there could be complications.' Pepper sat beside Happy.

'I don't have a good feeling about this.' Rhodey said quietly.

Pepper sighed, 'we have to trust that he knows what he's doing.'

'Did _he_ say anything to you?' Rhodey asked.

Pepper shook her head, 'he asked me to trust him on this, and I do.'

'Then why does it feel like I should be planning a funeral for my best friend?' Rhodey asked sternly.

Pepper turned her head to face him, 'he's the smartest person we know, he's got this.'

Rhodey stood up; he scratched his head with one hand and leaned against the lobby wall with the other. 'What if he's just setting himself up for disappointment, what if this doesn't work and he wakes up exactly the same, he'll lose it Pepper.'

'And he was doing so well before?' She asked sarcastically.

Rhodey looked back at her, 'no, but we could have started rehab, or something, now with this, if this fails…' he trailed off.

'It won't fail.' She defended Tony.

Happy stood up, he gently clapped Rhodey on the back, 'I need a smoke.' He left them in the lobby and made his way out.

Pepper sat staring at the floor, her hands folded neatly in her lap, Rhodey stood against the wall starring absentmindedly into the air.

* * *

Maya stepped outside into the sunshine, her dark hair shimmered in the light, she leaned against the wall, and exhaled loudly.

'Problem?' Happy questioned.

Maya jumped slightly in her spot, 'no, no problem, just stressed.' She ran her fingers through her hair.

'About Tony?' Happy asked taking a puff of his cigarette.

'Yes,' she breathed, 'I just don't know what to expect.' She explained.

Happy nodded, 'well, with Tony you never know what to expect, but if he's sure about this, then it's going to be alright.'

'It's good that he has you all,' she sighed, 'going through something like this.' She said quietly.

'Yeah, he's not the usual type of friend one has.' Happy replied. 'You went to college with him?'

'Yes, MIT, he was in our graduating class, he was still a kid, put us all to shame.' She reflected on the past, a smile played across her lips.

'He's the token genius-billionaire in our group, you know, every group has one.' Happy said with a smile on his face.

Maya straightened herself up and smiled at Happy, 'I better get in there and check on him.'

Happy nodded at her and lit up another cigarette. He looked over at the door to the building; Rhodey had made his way outside.

'How are you holding up?' Happy asked him sincerely.

Rhodey shrugged his shoulders, he joined him beside the wall, 'I'm worried for him, _and_ Pepper.'

'Me too.' Happy admitted.

Rhodey looked at him, 'how are _you _holding up?'

'Worried, but I have faith, that things will work out.' Happy smiled, but the sadness was evident.

'How can you be so sure?' Rhodey muttered.

'Because they have to.' Happy said simply.

'Tony isn't going to live crippled, he's just not going to, if this fails, he will do _whatever_ he can to escape.' Rhodey said sternly.

'I know, I agree, but we deal with that if it comes to that, for now we need to believe that it will all work out, because if _we_ don't, he'll never get through this.' Happy's wisdom was relentless.

'You're right, I know, I'm sorry.' Rhodey conceded.

Happy looked at him intently. 'You have to put on your game face, Rhodes, Pepper's suffering through this enough as it is, she needs us.'

Rhodey nodded, 'you're right.'

They stood in the sunshine watching the world go by, Happy couldn't shake the anger he felt toward the universe, everyone continued on as though nothing had happened, did the world even know that they'd lost Iron Man, a man who was _their_ best friend, the man who completed Peppers life, the man who gave his own existence to save the people who didn't even know he was gone. He cursed himself for mourning his friend; he wasn't dead, even though Tony would agree that death wouldn't be so bad, in comparison to this. But he had a small glimmer of hope or faith, that everything would work out, and that this would have just been a bad dream, a bump in the road. Tony would wake up in a few days, laugh at them all, and request he be taken to get a cheeseburger immediately, then he would work on his suits and live his life as he was meant to. Happy butt out his smoke and followed Rhodey inside.

* * *

Maya stood at Tony's bed, her eyes were wide with shock, 'I don't understand, what is this?' she breathed.

Rhodey held Pepper back; she was desperately trying to fight her way out of his arms. 'Stop, Pep, don't touch anything.' He struggled.

Happy stood beside Maya; he touched the cocoon like substance which encased Tony.

'It's ok, look,' Happy shone a light from his cell phone, the light penetrated the shiny surface, 'it's a cocoon or something like it, it's repairing his body.'

Rhodey finally let Pepper go and she stammered forward into Happy, all three of them stood looking at the cocoon in awe.

Maya pulled an imaging machine over the cocoon and scanned it, 'it makes sense, the shell has encased him and it's repairing the damage from the inside out.' She observed the images which were being relayed on the monitors beside them.

Pepper laughed nervously, 'this is really going to work, isn't it?'

Rhodey looked at her, unsure of whether to smile, or cry, he let out an exasperated sigh, 'Oh man.' He finally breathed.

Maya looked at the vital signs on the monitor, 'everything's looking good, better than good.' She looked down at the heart rate monitor. 'All signs look promising; I'll keep a close eye on him.'

* * *

'Sir, Stark's been moved.' Natasha reported to Fury. 'I don't know where, I lost them.'

Fury stood by the window, his arms crossed behind his back in the usual fashion, looking out at the ocean below the helicarrier.

'He's ill, that's why he in went alone.' Natasha said firmly.

Fury remained unmoving.

'He knew he was dying, so he found a way to go out fighting.' She continued. She stepped closer to him, she lowered her voice. 'Did you know?'

Fury finally turned to look at her, 'no, I found out when we took him to the hospital.'

'He went to great lengths to hide it.' She said, 'even from us.'

Fury bowed his head in defiance. 'Not hard enough, you found out.'

'I found out, because it's my job to know about my team, to know what's going on, I found out because I knew something was wrong, so I looked for it.' She explained.

'How is he?' Fury asked quietly.

'He's never going to walk again.' She answered sternly.

'Damn it, Stark.' Fury muttered to himself, turning back to the window.

'What were you planning on doing if we brought him in?' Natasha looked at him curiously, 'punish him? Ground him?' she asked sarcastically.

Fury let out a sarcastic laugh, 'I don't know.'

Natasha nodded. 'With all due respect, sir, this team, we _had_ our own way of doing things, and it worked, we should have been there to help him.'

'I know, it was my mistake, and I'm so sorry about that.' He rubbed his face.

'It's not me you have to apologise to.' Natasha made her statement, and left.

Nick Fury remained where he stood, his eye showed remorse and pain. He was a man who relied on his confidence to lead, for the first time since taking on this team, he felt unsure, undone. Tony Stark was a pain in the arse, but he was a man who on more than one occasion ran in first to do what the whole team should have been doing, to spare them the danger of the task. This time, when Tony should have had his team backing _him_ up, Fury let him down. He ordered them to stay away; he only survived because they disobeyed his orders. He questioned now that maybe they shouldn't have gone at all. That way, Tony wouldn't be lying in a hospital room, miserable, suffering.

**Oh damn, it's all happening now! I wasn't too thrilled by the way the Natasha/Fury meeting went, let me know what you think. All I know is, there needs to be some form of communication regarding Tony's situation with The Avengers, but I'm not entirely sure how to go about it! Feedback is greatly appreaciated, I'm struggling a little bit :( LOL...hope to hear from you all, and get this show on the road!**


	28. Chapter 28

**OK my lovely people! I have taken on board as much as I could from your reviews and PM's to make this chapter possible. Let me just vent about the sheer horror of system crashes! **

**I lost almost seven complete chapters of the original novel I'm working on, and this entire chapter when my back up system failed to save the back up! **

**I cried in a foetal position for about twenty minutes until my manager bought me ice cream to make me feel better! What a day! **

**So...after many hours of trying to write and rewrite this chapter to my satisfaction, here it is! Hope you enjoy :) It was my favourite on to write, by far!**

* * *

'What's going on with Stark?' Steve came up behind Natasha who was cleaning her gun, Clint sat beside her, he lifted his head to greet Steve, Natasha's eyes remained focussed on her task.

'When's he coming back, did the surgeon say anything?' Steve asked hopefully.

Clint sighed, he looked to Natasha who remained silent, he cleared his throat, 'he's _not _coming back.'

Steve shifted in his position, 'what do you mean he's not coming back, why?'

Bruce and Thor had joined them; they too looked confused at Clint's revelation about their teammate.

Natasha finished cleaning her gun and placed it back in the holster on her thigh; she finally looked up at them, looking each man in the eyes.

'Starks done, he's not coming back, ever.' She bent down and retrieved a small knife from her boot holster.

'What did the surgeon say, Natasha?' Steve repeated.

She sighed and slammed the knife down; she looked back at the team.

'We were too late; the damage his body sustained is permanent.' She pursed her lips, 'he's paralysed.' She picked up the knife and continued cleaning it.

The silence which filled the room was toxic. She heard Steve gasp, and from the corner of her eye she saw Bruce rub his face. Thor simply looked down at his feet.

She felt Clint's hand on her shoulder, she shrugged it away, 'I'm fine.' She spat.

Clint got up and left, she saw the others leave with him.

The anger, the sadness coursed through her veins, she took the blade and stabbed it into the table, the point wedged itself if into the surface. She felt the remorse and guilt pool within her; she was assigned to watch him, years ago. They had arguments and sometimes they didn't see eye to eye. But they always saw the end game, protect the people, protect each other. She failed him, she knew he was dying; she should have fought harder to protect him. She had never failed an assignment before, this time she failed more than that. She failed him, a friend, an ally. She failed her team.

* * *

'Has anyone tried to see him?' Steve asked as they walked through the helicarrier's winding corridors.

'No, he's refusing to see anyone; they moved him shortly after we left.' Clint advised.

'So they knew when we were there?' Steve asked.

Clint nodded; he held the door open as they entered the communications room. 'I assume so.'

'I thought…' Steve trailed off, then composed himself, 'I just though he was injured, I, I didn't imagine it would be something this bad, when Fury said he needed time.'

'I don't think any of us did, man.' Clint said quietly. He sat down in front of a computer and pulled up surveillance feeds from the street cameras in Texas.

'What are you doing?' Steve asked.

'Trying to see where Mallen could have gone, anything we might have missed.' Clint leaned forward as the surveillance feeds came up.

They watched on as Mallen threw Tony around like a rag doll, Tony put up a good fight, but he was hilariously outmatched by the superhuman creature. Steve bowed his head, he looked away from the screen as he saw Natasha kneeling beside Tony, he could still hear Tony's panicked voice as he realised he wasn't walking away from this.

The anger swelled within Steve's body; the situation was unfair, unjust. Tony was stubborn, hard to get along with, and they had their share of disagreements. But when it came to the important stuff, Tony was the first one to take it on, a real leader. Despite the jokes and mindless sarcasm, he was one of the smartest people Steve knew. He realised after all this why he hadn't gotten along with him. He realised that he was just like Howard, brilliant and confident, and it intimidated him.

Bruce pulled up a chair, and began typing commands into Jarvis' mainframe.

'What are _you_ doing?' Thor questioned his actions.

'Finding Tony,' Bruce entered some commands, which Jarvis denied.

'I don't think he'd appreciate you trying to hack into his system.' Clint looked at him sideways.

Bruce looked down concentrating on the task at hand, 'I'm sure there are a lot of things he wouldn't appreciate at the moment, but we need to find him, I think we should try to see him.' Bruce explained, grimacing at the constant rejection of his attempts to enter the mainframe.

Clint sighed, 'maybe you should just _ask_ Jarvis?'

Bruce looked at Clint, and then at Steve who shrugged his shoulders, Thor nodded.

Bruce sighed, 'Jarvis, we need to see Tony, where is he?'

'I'm sorry, Mr Banner, Mr Stark has disabled all access points.' Jarvis announced.

'Can we contact him from here?' Clint asked.

'No, the communications from the helicarrier to Mr Stark have also been disabled.' Jarvis added.

'Thank you, Jarvis.' Bruce said quietly.

'You're welcome, Mr Banner.' Jarvis said politely.

Bruce slumped back in his chair, 'so much going on and he still manages to do _this_.' He sighed.

'He doesn't want to be found.' Clint said simply.

'I don't blame him.' Steve said glumly.

'When he's ready to talk with us, he will come.' Thor finally said.

They all looked at him, his words came sparingly, but when they did, his wisdom was unyielding.

Bruce nodded whilst Steve looked disappointed. Steve knew this matter could not be forced, a thing such as this was difficult, and only time would allow any progress.

* * *

Pepper had sat by Tony's side for hours, the glistening cocoon before her was sleek, and gave off a slight gold shimmer. It was a thing of beauty, but she feared the unknown burden it carried.

She felt her head lull forward, exhaustion defeated her, somewhere between begging Rhodey to let her stay with Tony, and the late night news on the TV, she found herself waking up in a bed.

Rhodey slept in a small office chair a few feet away by a small window, his head rested against the wall in what looked like the most uncomfortable angle a human being could be in, while Happy stood looking out at the night sky. The moonlight threw off an eerie glow against Happy's face; he turned to look at Pepper.

'What time is it?' She whispered, mindful of Rhodey's rhythmic breathing.

He looked down at his watch, 'just after three.' He replied quietly.

'How's Tony?' Pepper asked, snuggling under the thin blanket.

'No change.' He replied quietly.

Pepper looked around, 'where are we?'

'Still at Maya's facility, the nurse's quarters.' He explained.

Pepper nodded. 'Wake me, if there's any change.' She felt the sleep returning to her, once she was satisfied that Happy acknowledged her request, she lay her head back on the pillow and let sleep consume her.

* * *

Maya sat with her back propped up against the cold wall, her feet tucked under her as she sat monitoring Tony's vitals. The quiet hum and murmur of the machines proved soothing, she barely kept her eyes open, she forced herself awake with three or four coffee's, she'd lost count.

She recalled the ferocity in his eyes, the passion in his work, nothing had changed, he was still the same Tony she'd known years ago. She remembered the day he cracked the 'annual challenge' the professors at MIT had set, no one in thirty years had solved it. The algorithm was kept in a safe, of which only three professors knew the location. He and Maya worked on their assignments together and for hours on end they would work on the problem, Tony was determined he would be the one to solve it. One day after working on the problem alone he called Maya to come to the college with him, he was sixteen, and he strolled into the office and grinned back at Maya as he handed over the solution on a napkin from _Randy's Doughnuts. _The professor initially laughed at him, then Maya noticed his expression change, Tony graduated with the highest honours in the class, four months later.

The steady beeps of the heart rate monitor began to gain speed, her eyes shot open, she stumbled forward nearly knocking her coffee over. She stood beside Tony holding up the ECG readings which came out of the machine, after studying the results briefly she pulled out the imaging camera and ran it over his body again, she gasped when she saw the movement inside.

The shimmery gold cocoon began to unravel itself, falling away from Tony's body. The beeps gained speed faster and faster, eventually they became a continuous high-pitched noise, then they dissipated all together. Just as the noise ceased, the gold cocoon vanished. Tony lay unconscious in its place.

She gasped; cautiously reaching up to him with the stethoscope, the strong, rhythmic thud of his heart brought a wide smile to her face. 'Oh my god.' She breathed.

Maya rushed over to the storage shelves and pulled out a clean sheet, she draped it over Tony and sat down.

A few minutes passed and Tony began to stir, his eyes flickered open, a small groan escaped his lips, 'bright, too, too bright.' He stammered, shielding his eyes with his arm, he looked down at the cast on his other arm, 'what, what is this, take it off.' He breathed; he dragged the cast against the bed struggling to pull it off.

Maya ran around to the other side of the bed, she put her hand on his arm to stop him struggling, 'stop, Tony,' she reached for a pair of scissors and began removing the cast, 'stop, it's ok.' She tried to reassure him. With a final snip, the cast finally came off and his newly repaired arm moved to cover his face.

She reached over him to the light switch and dimmed it, she looked back at him, he was lying with his arms coving his face, panting.

She walked back over to the chair and sat beside him, 'how do you feel?' she asked quietly.

He looked at her from under his arms, 'like I got hit by a truck.' He breathed.

Maya smiled, 'well, not far off it.' She moved closer to him.

She looked him up and down, 'do you want to try and sit up?' she asked hopefully.

The events of the last few days came rushing back, he closed his eyes and sighed, he could still feel his legs, but then again he felt them before; phantom sensations.

'It's ok, when you're ready.' Maya added.

'No, it's fine; have to get it out of the way sooner or later.' Tony muttered. He looked up at her.

Maya held out her hand, he took hold of it apprehensively. He closed his eyes, breathed in and pushed himself up, when he opened his eyes, he saw the smile on her face, his own mirrored hers.

She threw her arms around him, 'you are crazy, you really are, you know that?'

He hugged her back, laughing, 'well, that's one way to put it.' He breathed in his new life; the grin didn't leave his face. He slowly eased himself off the bed, treading carefully on his newly healed bones. He smiled to himself as he took his first steps around the room; Maya carefully watched his every move, following him in case he needed assistance.

'Why is everything so bright?' he muttered, turning to look at her.

Maya looked at him quizzically, 'Tony, it's nearly completely dark in here.'

'Really?' He looked around, 'it seems like there are a million lights darting around me.' He looked around in the air, his eyes darting across the room.

Maya walked closer to him, 'Tony?' she followed his gaze, she saw nothing.

'It's, incredible.' He looked around and then back at her.

'What is?' She whispered.

'The lights.' He looked around.

'What are you talking about, Tony are you feeling ok?' She took his face into her hands and turned him to look at her.

He smiled, 'yeah, great, never felt better.' He kissed her on the cheek and pulled free from her grip.

She stood looking at him in bewilderment, 'Tony, I don't think this is normal.' She called after him as he walked through the halls, shielding his eyes from the lights.

'God, it's so bright.' As soon as the words left his mouth, the whole building was plunged into darkness, he stopped and turned to look at her.

Her eyes wide with confusion, 'what did you do?' she looked around.

Tony shook his head, 'I didn't do anything.' He muttered, equally as surprised.

'Where's Pepper?' Tony breathed.

Jarvis replied, 'She is upstairs in the nurse's quarters with Mr Rhodes and Mr Hogan.'

'I don't have Jarvis installed here, what the hell?' He looked around.

'What are you talking about?' Maya stepped up to him.

'You didn't hear that?' he asked looking down into her eyes.

'Hear what? Maya looked around, 'Tony, what's going on?'

'I think…' he trailed off looking up to the ceiling, 'I think I may be connected to Jarvis.'

'Connected to Jarvis? Tony are you hearing yourself?' She tried to reason with him. 'This is crazy.'

He laughed nervously, 'and me _standing_ here isn't?'

Maya looked down at her feet.

Tony looked at her, 'Jarvis, which floor is Pepper on, bring it up on this screen.' He said confidently.

Maya and Tony looked up at the security monitor above them, the security feed disappeared and within seconds the feed of Pepper's room came up.

'What is going on?' Maya breathed.

'I'm connected to anything that's connected to the grid.' He smiled looking around. 'Thank you Jarvis, you can end the feed.' With his command, Peppers room disappeared and the security feed returned.

'Tony, this is…'Maya trailed off looking at him, 'this is, I don't know, this is serious stuff you're messing with.'

'Yeah, it is.' Tony nodded; he continued to walk toward Peppers room.

'Tony,' Maya took hold of his arm, 'if you're hooked up to the grid, did you think about what would happen if there was a system overload or crash?'

Tony looked at her, 'yes I did, and I'll deal with it if it comes to that.' He tugged his arm free and continued to Pepper.

Maya followed him; 'if the extremis healed you, why didn't it heal your heart?'

'I wrote it into the extremis.' He said finally, looking around trying to figure out the way to Peppers room.

'Why?' She looked at him with concern.

'Because this,' he tapped the reactor, 'this is a part of me, it powers the suit, I need it.'

'Ok, alright, you need to take it easy though.' She explained.

Tony nodded and smiled weakly, 'I need to see Pepper, and then I need to find Mallen, finish this.'

Maya looked at him, 'what, no, you do not have the strength to face him yet.'

'Not yet, but I will.' Tony left her standing in the corridor.

* * *

Happy looked around at the sound of the door opening, Rhodey craned his neck at the sudden streak of light which flashed across his face.

They both slowly shifted in their spot, and slowly made their way toward him; for fear that they were sharing a vivid hallucination. Their friend, who _stood_ before them, motioned for them to come outside.

Rhodey, then Happy took turns in hugging him.

'I don't have a lot of time, I need to see Pepper, then I'm going after Mallen, I need you to make sure Pepper's ok.' Tony said quietly speaking to Happy, he nodded.

Rhodey shook his head, 'Tony, no, not a chance, did you forget what happened last time you took him on?' Rhodey put his hand on Tony's chest to stop him.

'Don't worry about me, I've got this.' He grinned at them. 'Just make sure she's safe.'

Rhodey shook his head, 'I don't like this, Tony, let them take care of it.' Rhodey said firmly.

'No, _we're _going to take care of it.' Tony said to Rhodey.

Rhodey knew that Tony played solo, he knew his asking for help was a big deal, he saw the desperation in his eyes. 'Yeah, of course, what do you need?'

Tony grinned, 'suit up.'

He walked past them and made his way to see Pepper.

Tony took a deep breath and pushed the door open, he closed it behind him and made his way to her.

She lay on her back, her face turned to one side, the gentle curls of her hair framed her face.

He sat on the bed beside her, taking her hand into his; she let a small breath escape her lips. He cupped her cheek; he smiled at the sounds she made.

Tony sat silently, waiting for her to wake up, she finally stirred under his hand, her eyes opened and the expression on her face warmed his heart. The love she showed toward him was the reason he did this; the reason he did everything every day, to make the world a safer place, for her.

She threw her arms around him, pulling him down to her, she buried her face into the nape of his neck, 'oh my god, it worked.'

'It did.' He breathed, kissing her neck. He ran his fingers through her hair, breathing in every moment he held her in his arms. 'I came to tell you, I'm going to find Mallen, I'm going to finish this, but I wanted you to know.' He spoke softly.

She pulled away from him, 'no, please, let them take care of this, please Tony.' She leaned her head against him and sobbed against his chest. She pulled back and looked into his eyes, the warmth in them radiated more beauty than she had ever seen, his skin was perfect and flawless, a glow radiated from within, his brown hair was perfectly arranged. Tony was perfect, she took in the sight before her, he looked like he was reborn an angel. His smile shook her foundations; she couldn't believe how he had stolen her breath.

'You…'she touched his cheek, 'you look perfect.' She whispered, almost afraid to speak for fear he would disappear from her hands. She looked at him with wide eyes, as though she was looking at him for the first time.

'The virus?' She asked quietly.

Tony put his hand over hers, 'gone, all clear.' He smiled.

'How?' She asked curiously.

Tony grinned, 'come on, Pep, _I_ did this, I always work things out, you told me that.'

She smiled and pulled him closer. 'Please be careful.' She whispered.

'I will be.' He pressed his lips to hers. 'I love you.' He whispered in her ear, he left her in the bed and made his way to the door, he turned to look at her. 'Don't miss me too much.' He smiled as he closed the door behind him.

**PLEASE please please let me know what you thought of this, it's kind of a pivotal chapter, so the more feedback/criticism I can get, the better I can equip myself to deal with the oncoming chapters. **

**I want to know what your thoughts are on how the reunion of Tony and The Avengers should be, also how should the showdown with Mallen go down? Thoughts/ideas much appreciated :) **


	29. Chapter 29

**OH MY GOODNESS! How long has it been? Too long I think, everything is coming together again...I do apologise for the really long delay! Thank you for those of you who have still stuck around :)**

'I need to you to stay behind, keep the perimeter.' Tony explained as they soared through the sky heading toward the last known location of Mallen.

Rhodey sped past him, 'got it, be careful.' He acknowledged.

'Have you got the feed up?' Tony spoke into the coms.

'Yeah, just heading to the rear of the building, meet you there?' Rhodey asked.

Tony flew lower to the ground; he landed behind a small shop and let Jarvis scan the area. 'Yeah, doing surveillance on the ground, keep an eye out for S.H.I.E.L.D, they'll be joining this party any time now.'

Rhodey continued his perimeter check, 'what are you going to say to them?'

Tony stopped to examine a smear of blood on the corner of the small shop, he looked around, 'I don't think I need to say anything, do I?' He continued scanning the area.

'I'm sure there will be questions, Tony.' Rhodey landed a few feet away from him.

Tony looked up to acknowledge him, 'he's been here,' he pointed to the smear of blood, 'and just because there are questions, doesn't mean I have to answer them.'

Rhodey moved closer to take a look. 'Where do you think he's gone?' he looked around, 'and you need to give them something.'

'I'll look over the news feed, you take the back, and I don't _need _to give them anything.' He ignited the jet blasters and took off into the sky.

Rhodey sighed loudly; he took off after him and surveyed the rest of the area.

After a few moments of silent surveillance the quiet was broken by a low growl, Tony immediately took off toward the noise, Rhodey directly behind him.

'Jarvis, is that him?' Tony asked sternly.

'Yes sir, target is on the move, heading in your direction.' Jarvis replied.

'Tony, what's the plan?' Rhodey asked cautiously.

'Well,' Tony began, 'I haven't thought that far ahead.'

'Seriously?' Rhodey quipped.

'Since when have I _planned_ things?' Tony said matter of factly. He ignited the repulsors and took off toward Mallen.

'Tony, be careful.' Rhodey yelled out after him.

'Always.' Tony smirked as he flew full throttle toward the beast who nearly destroyed his life.

* * *

'Agent Romanov, there's a disturbance in the area we've been monitoring.'

Natasha turned her attention to the young S.H.I.E.L.D officer; she stood up and made her way to him, 'what kind of disturbance?'

The young officer looked up at her, 'Mallen seems to be there, as well as some high level interference.'

Natasha looked intently at the infrared display on the officer's screen, 'zoom in there.' She pointed to the top right corner of the screen.

He obliged and the image was blown up.

Natasha looked closely, she smiled to herself, she pressed her hand to her ear piece, 'Rogers, get the team down to the observation deck.'

'On our way.' Came the quick reply.

Natasha stood by the young officer having him print up coordinates of the location, and other information she saw useful.

Once the Avengers had arrived she handed out the information she'd collated.

'We've found Mallen,' she explained as each of them looked over the documents she handed them.

'What's this interference here?' Clint asked her without looking up.

'It's Tony.' She said quietly.

Everyone looked up at her instantly.

'Natasha,' Clint began, she interrupted him.

'I know, but this,' she tapped the infrared signature, 'this is the signature of his repulsors, that's unmistakable.' She looked at them hopefully.

'I don't know,' Steve shook his head, 'could be a trap.'

Thor looked at the image in his hand. 'Why do we not call him?'

Bruce cleared his throat, 'I tried calling him over the last few hours, he's still off the grid.'

Natasha nodded, 'this is him, I know it.'

'Ok, what is the second signature there?' Clint asked.

'Colonel Rhodes has the other suit; he is most likely accompanying him.' Natasha offered.

'Well then, let's go.' Clint said finally.

They all nodded and headed off to their rooms to get ready.

Natasha smiled to herself, 'well Stark, you never cease to surprise me.' She spoke quietly to the small infrared patch on the screen. She thanked the officer and took her leave. She wasn't there to help him when it mattered most, she wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

* * *

Tony flew directly into Mallen, blasting him with his palm repulsors, he staggered backward, he grinned at the attack.

'You're back for more?' he grunted, a sickly smirk looked back at Tony.

Rhodey landed a few feet away from Tony and raised his palms, ready to fire.

'And you brought a friend?' he laughed.

'Well, I needed to make sure I had a witness when I kicked you sorry ass back to wherever you came from.' Tony said sarcastically.

'That's something your pretty Doctor friend can tell you all about.' Mallen laughed,

Tony looked at him intently, he pushed the thoughts aside. Mutterings of a mad man.

Without hesitation Mallen ran toward Tony, fists ready, before he could reach Tony, both he and Rhodey blasted him with their repulsors, Mallen was hardly affected, Tony recognised the determination in his eyes, 'Rhodey get out of here.' Tony yelled, 'Jarvis, put everything into the chest piece.'

Rhodey obeyed and flew up into the sky, 'Tony, what are you doing?' he yelled back at him.

'Just get back.' He yelled through the coms, 'I've got this.'

As Mallen took another swing at Tony, the memory of the recent fight brought fear back into him, he momentarily froze, his heart raced against his chest, flashes of the pain and terror blinded him, a fist to the chest shook him back to the present.

'Tony!' Rhodey yelled from his vantage point.

Tony shook his head inside his helmet, he looked around dazed, he stammered backwards and regained his composure. He looked at Mallen who was running toward him again, he planted his feet firmly and prepared himself. The second hit was much more severe than the first; he felt his chest plate cave slightly.

'Rhodey, get in behind him, now.' He shouted. Mallen took a third swing and Tony ducked this time, 'hurry.'

As Mallen was distracted with Tony, Rhodey flew up behind him and blasted him with the repulsors, Mallen was caught by surprise and stumbled forward into Tony, they both fell to the ground, Mallen pinning Tony down beneath him.

'Tony?' Rhodey yelled to his friend.

'Blast him again.' Tony yelled back through the coms. He took hold of Mallen's arms and held him down; Rhodey fired blast after blast, wearing Mallen down.

Tony heard a jet above them, he saw that it was S.H.I.E.L.D the HUD displayed the familiar red head pilot, 'Agent Romanov.' Tony stammered through gritted teeth.

'It's good to see you back in the field.' Natasha replied happily.

'Miss me?' Tony asked with a smirk on his face, still fighting hard against Mallen.

'Immensely.' Natasha replied in their regular sarcastic banter. She lowered the jet closer to the ground, 'what can we do, Tony?' she asked.

'Just help Rhodey, make sure Mallen doesn't get too close to him, I'll do the rest.' He replied, barely breathing out the words.

'Got it.' Natasha replied.

Tony saw the jet lower closer to them, he pulled Mallen closer to him, his violent kicks and attempts to break free affected Tony greatly, he felt his head hit the back of his suit a few times, he grunted in anger. He felt Mallen strengthen, he pulled him closer again. He needed him in the right position in order to finish this effectively.

'Shoot!' Tony yelled to Rhodey and Natasha. From the corner of his eyes he noticed Steve and Clint jump down taking position with their weapons ready to take over, Thor landed a few feet away, Bruce came down as the Hulk. Mallen broke free from Tony and turned on Thor, he called on the thunder and blasted Mallen with it, the shock momentarily stopped him.

This isn't working,' Tony ran toward towards him, 'take cover.' Tony yelled, he blasted Mallen to get his attention.

Mallen finally turned back to Tony determined to finish what they had started.

Mallen ran into Tony full force and knocked him down again. 'Romanov I need some help here.' Tony muttered breathlessly.

'On it.' She replied, firing off flares in Mallen's direction.

Through all the commotion Mallen was distracted enough for Tony to blast him with his chest repulsor. Mallen stammered backwards, Tony breathed through gritted teeth. With one swift jolt the lasers from his suit deployed and cut through Mallen. His body fell limply to the ground. Tony fell to one knee; he closed his eyes trying to shut out the pain. He gathered what strength he had and raised his head slowly, regaining his bearings. Rhodey rushed over to him, gripping him in his arms as he swayed weakly.

'What the hell were you thinking?' Rhodey muttered to him, trying to hold him up.

'If I discussed the plan with you, you never would have agreed.' He breathed.

'Because it was a stupid ass plan.' Rhodey said quietly as he pulled Tony to his feet.

Tony nodded, 'what, I knew they were going to be here for back up, I had their transmission the whole time.'

Rhodey laughed nervously, 'you're completely nuts.'

Tony laughed back, he stood triumphantly over Mallen, his body alive with pride, he saw his team rush over to him, the strain and weight of the suit was exhausting, with a simple thought he felt the suit unravel itself away from his body, just as it had appeared around him, it was gone, before him stood his team, eyes wide with awe, curiosity and he guessed, some kind of relief that he was ok.

'What the hell?' Clint breathed.

Tony's eyes took in the sight of the city before him, the creature they defeated and his team.

Rhodey lifted his face plate; he looked at the Avengers and smiled to himself. 'One happy family.' He joked.

Tony wiped away the small trail of blood which ran from his nostrils, he breathed in the fresh air, a welcome relief to his lungs. He closed his eyes, enjoying the quiet, the peace which consumed him. Tony opened his eyes to meet with Natasha's.

'Tony, how is this possible?' Natasha spoke quietly.

'The same way this was possible.' He pointed to Mallen's body.

Steve looked at him with concern, 'what do you mean?'

'You don't want to know.' Was Tony's simple reply.

'Well you look good.' Bruce offered as he returned to the team.

Tony smiled weakly, 'thanks.'

Thor pulled him into a strong hug, he laughed heartily. 'It's good to have you back metal man.'

'Yeah, you're all sparkly and new, like a Twilight vamp.' Clint offered.

Tony and Natasha snorted at the remark.

Tony looked at them, studying everyone's face, he stopped at Natasha's, a sad smile swept across her features.

He looked away quickly, he knew that look, it was the same look he bore when he saw his own weapons being used against innocent people. Guilt. He quickly changed the subject.

'Rhodey, we're not done yet.' Tony turned to him.

'Let's go.' He nodded.

'I'll see you all back at base.' Tony offered to his team.

Rhodey took off into the sky, Tony summoned his armour and it wrapped itself around his body as he walked and eventually took off after Rhodey.

'I can't believe it.' Steve said after a few moments of silence. He helped Thor and Bruce with the clean-up, Natasha had called in the S.H.I.E.L.D containment team; they worked quietly and efficiently cleaning up the remains of the fight.

'Cheer up soldier, he's alright, everything's fine.' Clint said with a cheery tone.

Natasha looked around at the carnage, 'but at what cost?' she asked speaking in barely a whisper.

Clint moved closer to her, 'what do you mean?' He asked quietly.

She looked around making sure they were out of earshot, 'you heard what he said, whatever he did came about from this.'

'You think it's something bad.' Clint said more a statement than a question.

Natasha nodded, 'it can't be good, did you see how dazed he was?'

'He took a beating; it could have been from that?' Clint offered.

'No, this was different; I just _know_ this is something bad.' She said quietly shaking her head.

'I'm sure you'll find out whatever it is.' Clint said quietly. 'Come on, we should get back.'

'Yeah.' Natasha said finally. 'I'll meet you back there; I've got something I need to take care of.'

They said their goodbyes and Natasha made her way toward a meeting point, she called in a driver from S.H.I.E.L.D who met her within minutes.

'Take me to Stark tower.' She said to the driver. She leaned back against the seat, her mind calculating and throwing around ideas and scenarios as to how Tony had beat the odds and come back from the brink, how had he commanded his suit the way he had, his communications were connected within him somehow. She shook her head, whatever it was, it was bad news. She only hoped he had a contingency plan.

**As always, please let me know how you found this, I'm a bit rusty, so forgive the rough patch as we get back into the swing of things :) I'm sorry again for the long delay xx**


	30. Chapter 30

**So ladies and gentlemen, we come to a close of this epic adventure I've put myself and these wonderful characters through...**

'What are we doing here?' Rhodey asked as they landed at Maya's facility.

'I have something I need to finish here, can you to get back to Pepper, tell her everything is ok?' Tony asked as he walked toward the entrance of the building allowing his suit to unravel itself away from him.

'When are you coming back?' Rhodey asked.

'I'm not sure; I don't know how long this will take.' Tony explained. 'I'll catch up with you soon.'

Rhodey nodded and took off, leaving Tony to his business.

* * *

'Stark tower, Agent Romanov.' The driver announced.

Natasha stepped out, 'thank you, I won't be long.'

The driver nodded.

Natasha took out her cell phone, 'Pepper, can I come up?' she made her way to the lobby, 'I'm coming up now.' She replaced her phone and made her way to the elevator; she pushed the button for the top floor and leaned back against the elevator wall. She knew Tony wouldn't be here yet, but Pepper would be.

The doors opened and Pepper welcomed Natasha with a warm smile and a hint of confusion.

'I didn't expect to see you, is everything ok?' Pepper asked softly. 'Please come in.'

Natasha tried to offer a smile, 'Yes, everything is fine,' but the gut wrenching feeling consumed her more than she cared to admit. Her training and expertise however, offered a façade of calm which she hoped Pepper wouldn't be able to see through.

'I just had a few questions, about Tony's recovery.' She said earnestly.

'I figured as much,' Pepper said quietly, she led her guest to the living area and motioned for her to sit.

'What can you tell me about the serum?' Natasha asked looking intently at Pepper, studying her face, her reactions.

Pepper shifted uncomfortably in her spot, 'not much, unfortunately, he didn't tell me much and I didn't ask.'

Pepper poured a glass of water for each of them.

'Was this the doctor who administered the serum?' Natasha pulled up an image of Maya Hansen on her cell phone and handed it to Pepper.

She took it from her and looked at the photo; she nodded, 'why?'

'Intel we recovered from the Mallen case over the last few days indicates she was responsible.' Natasha explained taking her phone back.

'And you think she may have compromised Tony's treatment?' Pepper asked flatly.

Natasha considered her words carefully, 'I have reason to believe that the serum may have been deliberately administered to Mallen, I also think it best to know all the facts before arriving at conclusions.'

Pepper nodded; 'of course, but what would Dr Hansen have to gain?' she looked at her guest intently.

'Maybe her gain was Tony's infection, he rewrote the virus, _he_ corrected the mistakes.' Natasha offered.

'You think she needed him to fix the virus?'

'That's what it looks like, we're looking into it.' Natasha added.

The two women sat in silence, Jarvis finally broke the uneasiness.

'Miss Potts, Colonel Rhodes has arrived.' Jarvis announced.

Natasha stood up at the announcement, 'keep an eye on Tony.' She said to Pepper and took her leave.

Pepper nodded, 'of course, thank you.' She walked Natasha to the elevator; Rhodey stepped into the room as Natasha took his place in the elevator. They nodded at each other and Natasha pushed the button and looked away as the doors closed, she had what she needed, and she was right.

'What was that about?' Rhodey asked as he poured himself a glass of water from Tony's bar.

'She thinks that Dr Hansen needed Tony to fix the virus, that this was all planned.' She looked down at the glass of water in her hand, 'what do you think?'

Rhodey leaned against the bar, 'you know Tony would examine all possible outcomes of an equation, I'm sure he knew what he was doing.' He noticed that Pepper's worry wasn't alleviated, he cleared his throat, 'hey, he seems fine to me; I mean he can do some pretty freaky stuff now, but other than that, same old Tony.' He offered a smile.

Pepper nodded finally, 'where is he?'

'He said he had something he needed to take care of, he wanted me to tell you that everything was ok.' Rhodey said with a smile.

'So it's finished then?' Pepper sighed, 'it's over?'

Rhodey nodded, 'Everything is fine now.'

They sat together discussing the eccentric man who brightened both their lives, Pepper smiled, a small burden was lifted, a sense of normality was restored, she could tell Rhodey felt the same, he finally smiled whole heartedly, she knew that despite the nagging feeling that something wasn't right, that she had Tony back, she would fight for him and fight beside him to make sure that there was nothing that could come between them.

* * *

'Maya.' Tony said quietly as he stepped into her office closing the door behind him.

She looked up from her computer; a small smile crept across her face. She leaned back in her chair and folded her hands in her lap. 'Tony.'

'The serum wasn't stolen was it?' Tony said taking a seat in front of her.

He smile disappeared, she looked away from him, 'what do you know?'

Tony's face hardened, 'I didn't think anything of it when you came to see me, but the more and more I looked into your research the more I found flaws in your story,' he pulled out his cell phone and brought up some images of the storage rooms and the surgery where the procedure was performed, he handed it to her, 'the secure location of the serum was designed and implemented by three of the best security personnel in this country,' he smiled weakly, 'there's no way two common employees would have been able to hack that.'

Maya looked Tony in the eyes, 'what are you asking of me?'

'Why did you do it?' he asked simply.

'My funding was cut, Tony.'

'You could have asked me for help with that.' Tony said quietly.

She shook her head, 'you wouldn't have invested your time or money unless you saw a reason to.'

'You don't know that.' He replied.

'I needed to get the trials underway,' her eyes gleamed with determination to plead her case, 'the results could have been astounding, I could have helped so many people, genetic regeneration, people in the same position you _were_ in.' She pleaded with Tony to understand.

Tony stood up; running his hand through his hair.

'You made this work Tony, _you_ did it.' She stood up and walked over to him, she tried to take hold of his arm.

He shrugged her away, 'people _died_, because of what you did.' He said firmly.

'I'm sorry about that, but I never would have gotten your help if you didn't have the push.' She tried to explain.

Tony turned around briskly, 'I could have been killed.'

'He never would have killed you, I made sure of that.' She said in the same pleading tone.

'You planned all of this.' Tony said quietly. He didn't even need to question her, he knew the answer.

'I had no choice.' Maya stepped closer to him.

A thick blanket of silence fell over the office. Tony tried to contain his anger, he turned away from her; leaning his arm above him against the door, 'You always have a choice; you just made the wrong one.' He said finally.

Maya stepped between him and the door, her face inches away from his. He could feel her breath on him; she cupped his cheek in her hand.

'Stop it.' He pulled her hand away, he closed his eyes. Betrayal, just like Stane all over again.

'Tony, you're brilliant, you're the only one who could have done this, and look at the results, you're here, alive and _walking_, it's amazing.' She turned him to look at her.

'And what if I didn't work this out, who would have cleaned up your mess then?' Tony stepped closer to her, 'did you think about that?'

'I had no doubt that you would work it out.' She said quietly, 'and you did.'

Tony took hold of her and moved her out of his way, 'I'm only sorry it came to this, Maya, you were a good friend.' He stepped passed her and opened the door, three police officers came through and cuffed her.

He didn't look back as he walked away; he could hear her calling after him, screaming for him, he didn't feel anything but relief that she would be put away for the lives she destroyed, including his.

* * *

'Romanov, you're back.' Clint said with a cheery tone.

Natasha entered the observation deck of the helicarrier and took a seat beside him.

'Where is everyone?' she asked quietly.

'Gone for the night, Steve's got a date, a blonde girl from the café near Stark's tower.' Clint informed with a cheeky grin.

Natasha smiled back, 'well that's good, he needs to get out into the world.'

Clint smiled, 'yes, and what about you, Romanov?'

She turned to face him, 'what about me?'

'Are you stepping back into the world, or are you going to continue sulking?'

'I'm not sulking.' She offered simply.

'You're sulking.' Clint confirmed with a slight nod.

Natasha rolled her eyes, 'why aren't you out in the world, Barton?'

'Because I'm fine right here, besides, someone needs to be here to cheer you up.' He gently bumped her shoulder with his.

Natasha smiled this time, 'well, I think a drink would cheer me up, let's go.' She motioned to the door, Clint followed her, whether he was there as a confidant, a comrade or a drinking partner, in the end he would always follow her and he would always be there to cheer her up, because Natasha Romanov was a soldier, a master assassin, but above all she was a friend, who cared more than she would ever let on, and this sign of "weakness" in her eyes, made her an even better agent in everyone else's.

* * *

Night fell upon New York, Pepper sat beside the window looking out over the skyline. Her mind ran a marathon, the events of the last few weeks plagued her conscience, thoughts of all that was nearly lost, thoughts of all that had changed. The one thought however which never found any consolation, 'Tony was injected with the same serum Mallen was.' Natasha was concerned, she would never show it if it weren't serious, and that thought alone terrified Pepper. Natasha was so worried that even her years of soviet spy training couldn't hide the fear in her eyes. What was going to happen to Tony? She stressed herself out with worry, she consciously pushed out all thoughts of the fight, the conversations, she closed her eyes and blinked them away.

She heard the elevator doors open, and waited for Tony to join her. Moments later he wrapped his arms around her, kissing her neck. She held onto his arms.

'I missed you.' He whispered in her ear.

He walked around to sit beside her on the couch, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and Pepper turned to look at him lacing her fingers between his.

'Are you ok?' Pepper asked quietly.

Tony leaned forward and kissed her forehead, 'I am now.' He smiled.

'Tony, I wanted to apologise to you, about the Steve situation.' She pulled back so they were sitting face to face.

'There's nothing to apologise for, Pep.' Tony said softly.

'There is.' Pepper said shaking her head, 'I put you in a really bad position.'

'I would do anything for you, anything.' Tony said simply.

'I know, and it shouldn't be that way, I really appreciate what you did, and I never got to thank you.' Pepper kissed Tony's hands.

'And you will never have to, I do what I do because I love you, and that's as simple as it is.' Tony smiled.

Pepper looked at him, she couldn't help but smile, the journey which they survived together, the man Tony had become, his maturity, his strength in every situation overwhelmed her. She pulled him close, in silence they sat in the dark room looking out over the city skyline, their city. Tony and Pepper. For always.

**So this is the end...I aim to write a few shorts as a continuation to this piece which I will aim to tie up any loose ends, please let me know how you found this ending, if anyone would like to suggest anything I have missed or anything which you believe wasn't tied up nicely, please let me know, keeping in mind that I will be writing more, a few shorts or a few chapters to continue on! I also thought about writing a whole new adventure tied in to this story, but a sort of seperate sequel :)**

**Thank you for following, reading, favouriting and reviewing. You've all been amazing, you've trully inspired me and helped me on my own journey to focus and continue with writing!**

**Please let me know what thoughts are on this finale :)**

**See you soon on the next pieces I publish, follow me xx**


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